Mojito Sorbet

MOJITO SORBET

Tuesday has become a great day to bake. I teach a private acting class in the morning and then have the rest of the day free. I always see my great boyfriend, Nick, on Tuesday, and like to make him a nice dinner and dessert. Last Tuesday I decided to make an old favourite for dinner, steak with a roast pumpkin salad. We both love it and I hadn't made it in a little while.

So I needed something to go with it. I wanted something light. With all the birthday parties I'm going to, and all the cakes I was making for them, I didn't want some massively heavy for dessert. Now I know it's still cold out but I hadn't used my wonderful ice cream machine for a while. My extraordinary best friend, Charlene, gave it to me for Christmas and it is marvelous. So sorry for those without one, this recipe uses an ice cream machine. Now I was looking through sorbet recipes and came across this one. Love mint, love lime and well I can confess to moments of being a lush. So the mojito sorbet it was. You can do it without the rum, but then, what fun would that be? It is damn tasty, what a great way to get a little boozy!

Today is National Cheesecake Day in America, so I made a cheesecake I'm taking to my boyfriend's new place tonight. Will give you all the recipe for that one soon. Happy baking my friends and Happy Cheesecake Day. 

Recipe from: http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/11150/ice-cream-maker-mojito-sorbet.aspx

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Water

1 cup White Sugar

1/2 cup Fresh Mint Leaves, packed

1/4 cup Lime Rind, grated

1 cup  Lime Juice

1 1/2 cups Citrus Flavoured Sparkling / Mineral Water

2 tablespoons Rum

(In total I used the rind of 3 limes and used their juice, for left over juice I used a bought squeeze bottle)

DIRECTIONS:

1 - Heat the water, sugar and mint leaves in a saucepan over medium heat, and stir until sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside to cool and then strain out mint leaves.

2 - Pour the cooled mint mixture, lime rind and juice, sparkling water and rum into a bowl and mix well.

3 - Pour into the container of ice cream maker and freeze until solid. You may need to lift out churner and stir as it can stay liquid underneath. As there is alcohol, freezing time takes a little longer.

4 - Place in freezer until you need it.

5 - Serve in martini glass with fresh mint on top.

6 - Enjoy

Catch you on Thursday with a new recipe.

Wayne

xx 

Homemade Snickers Bar

HOMEMADE SNICKERS BAR

Last year my boyfriend sent me a recipe, a homemade Snickers bar, that he wanted me to try and make for him. It looked tricky, but I am someone who loves a challenge. So I decided to make these little wonders. They took some effort, but it was worth it as they are divine. D-VINE! I made them the first time and then waited for well over a year to try again, because making this the first time, I heard Whitney Houston died. Now Whitney was my first ever favourite singer. And through the years she still remained someone I loved. So the recipe was tainted slightly, I remember making it while playing Whitney loud and bawling my eyes out.

I made it again for my birthday this year, no one died, and everyone loved it. So I won't hold it against this recipe anymore.This recipe makes a large amount, and because it's so rich you only need to cut small pieces. So I cut it all up for my birthday party and assumed there would be some left over for my Mum to take back to Sydney. I wish I had put some aside, because it all went - very fast! I only got one piece, but it was okay, it made me feel like I'd done a good job. I then also made two trays for my friend Corey's short film and people raved about the slice. I have included the photo of the uncut tray with the other baked goods I made. All tasty!

So here's the recipe. I've done it differently than before. Each layer is listed with its ingredients and directions. Happy baking (even though this one is all done on the stove top.)

Now for making it, I always use a tin tray that I throw out after. I use canola spray to grease it beforehand.

BOTTOM CHOCOLATE LAYER

1 1/4 Milk Chocolate Melts

1/4 cup Smooth Peanut Butter

Melt ingredients together in a heatproof bowl above a saucepan of boiling water. Don't melt too fast, keep flame on a medium heat. Pour into the dish and spread until even. Let cool to room temperature and place in fridge until completely set.

NOUGAT LAYER

60 grams Unsalted Butter

1 cup Granulated Sugar

1/4 cup Evaporated Milk

1 1/2 cups Marshmallow Fluff (included photo above - found in a US sweet store or online)

1/4 cup Smooth Peanut Butter

1 1/2 cups Salted Peanuts, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in sugar and milk, stirring until dissolved and bring to boil. Let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in fluff, peanut butter and vanilla - stirring until smooth. Turn off heat and fold in peanuts, then pour over bottom chocolate layer and spread until it covers it completely. Let cool to room temperature and then cool in fridge until completely set.

CARAMEL LAYER

1 can of Top 'n' Fill Caramel (photo below)

1/4 cup Double Cream

Combine ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. Stir occasionally until smooth and fully combined. Pour over nougat layer and let cool completely. Put in fridge and make sure it is completely set.

TOP CHOCOLATE LAYER

1 1/4 cups Milk Chocolate Bits

1/4 cup Smooth Peanut Butter

Melt ingredients together in a heatproof bowl above a saucepan of boiling water. Don't melt too fast, keep flame on a medium heat. Pour into the dish and spread until even. Let cool to room temperature and place in fridge until completely set.

Cut to size you want and keep in fridge when not eating. Share these round and EVERYONE will love you (or hate you - depending on whether they are on a diet). 

Can't wait till I make these again. If you make them, please send a pic - love to see how they turn out.

Wayne

xx

Oat, Sultana and Choc Chip Slice

OAT, SULTANA & CHOC CHIP SLICE

Confession time: I am truly in love with baking right now, as you've probably guessed. I'm loving writing my blog and I also love when friends are coming over as I'm able to try new recipes. My good friend Cas was coming over recently for a coffee, a chat and some baked goodness. I looked what was in the cupboards and found a recipe to make from the ingredients. Now these were nice, I always love oats in baking and as for chocolate, that goes without saying. Cas enjoyed these, we had a great chat and then I took the leftovers to drama class for my teens to try. They were gone within a few minutes, so they must have been okay!

The thing I love about the above photo, it shows some of the great homewares I got for my birthday. Homewares, my other little obsession right now. Someone make me this guy a 1950's housewife!

Spent the last two days baking extravagant birthday cakes for the two birthday parties I am going to this week, so can't wait to share those with you next week. Until then, keep baking.

Recipe originally from:

http://www.exclusivelyfood.com.au/2007/09/oat-sultana-and-choc-chip-slice-recipe.html

INGREDIENTS:

125g Unsalted Butter

1 tablespoon of Golden Syrup

1 cup of Self Raising Flour

1 cup of Desiccated Coconut

1/2 cup of Caster Sugar

1 cup of Rolled Oats

3/4 cup of Sultanas

2/3 cup of Choc Chips (milk or dark)

1 large Egg

DIRECTIONS:

1 - Preheat oven to 180°c and grease and line a slice pan.

2 - Put butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat when butter has melted. Allow it to cool to lukewarm before mixing it with other ingredients.

3 - In a large bowl, mix flour, coconut, sugar, oats, sultanas and choc chips with a wooden spoon.

4 - In a small bowl, lightly beat egg with a fork. Add to the large bowl.

5 - Add the slightly cooled butter mixture to dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

6 - Press firmly into the slice tray. Using the back of a spoon to push it all down.

7 - Bake for around 20 minutes, or until golden.

8 - Allow slice to cool to room temperature in pan. Cut in pieces to serve.

9 - Best with fresh coffee or tea. Enjoy.

Have a great weekend and do some baking, your friends and family will thank you! 

Wayne

xx

Baked Eggs with Sausage

BAKED EGGS with SAUSAGE

Time for something a little different today, some breakfast. This is something very easy, with only three ingredients. I wanted to make something nice for breakfast for my boyfriend before I deserted him for the day and went to work on a Sunday. I'd tried some baked eggs before and they were nice, I wanted to try it with sausages as they have become my favourite companion for eggs. Plus, it was a good way to use my cool ramekins. Now I used a little too much salt on top, so be careful not to use too much. Match it with some toast, and freshly brewed coffee and you will have a great Sunday breakfast.

INGREDIENTS (To make two serves):

4 Eggs
2 Sausages
Pecorino Cheese, grated

DIRECTIONS:

1 - Preheat oven to 180°c and grease 2 ramekins.

2 - Cook sausages, make sure not to overcook.

3 - Slice up sausages into small pieces and place half of each sausage in the bottom of each ramekin.

4 - Place first egg over top.

5 - Repeat process with the rest of the sausage and the next egg.

6 - Sprinkle cheese over top and use a little salt and pepper on top.

7 - Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until egg whites set.

8 - Enjoy!

Have lots of baking to do next few days, some complex cakes I can't wait to share with you!

Wayne
xx

Cherry Mousse

CHERRY MOUSSE

So I got an amazing slowcooker from my parents for my birthday. I've been wanting one for a while and was so excited to try it. So last Tuesday I made some lamb shanks in red wine sauce. It turned out amazing. Here's a pic:

I made it for my boyfriend and I and wanted a nice dessert to go with it, but also something easy. So I looked what I had in the freezer and thought about what I could make. I also wanted to use the new stemless wine glasses I got for my birthday from my brother. I had frozen cherries and thought a mousse could be good. I checked out a few recipes and decided to adapt one and make up my own recipe. It took a few minutes to make and a few hours to set. It was pretty damn nice and I will certainly be making it again. So here's a recipe I created, sounds nice to say it!

INGREDIENTS:

200g of Frozen Cherries

3 tablespoons of Icing Sugar

300ml Thickened Cream

1 teaspoon of Gelatin

2 tablespoons of Boiling Water

Additional Cherries to decorate

 DIRECTIONS:

1 - Combine cherries with 1 tablespoon of icing sugar, beat until pureed. I used a stick blender, you can use a food processor.

2 - In a small heat proof bowl, pour in the boiling water and then place the gelatin on top. Stir until completely dissolved.

3 - Whip the cream and remaining icing together until almost firm. Then add in the melted gelatin and keep beating until medium peaks form.

4 - Fold in the cherry puree lightly until completely combined.

5 - Carefully place mousse in a wine glass, or cocktail glass.

6 - Place mousse into fridge until ready to serve. Then top with more cherries.

7 - Enjoy.

Finally, I tweeted out a picture of this and Dan Lepard from The Great Australian Bake Off retweeted it. It made my night!

Sultana & Oat Cookies

SULTANA & OAT COOKIES

Now these very tasty and very easy to make biscuits were the ones which got me started in my little baking heaven. Back in 2011, in my first year in Melbourne when I wanted to start baking but wasn't so sure if I could do it, this was the first recipe I tried. And it has become a favourite of mine I make quite often, even teaching it to my Mum (Apparently my nephew loves them too). I like to pretend that it's actually a little healthy. Sure, it may not be, but it's not as bad as many of the other biscuits out there. It uses brown sugar and honey to give it taste. Plus there's also great muesli and oats in it. Now I always like to get a good brand muesli to put in it (I use Carmen's). Tried it once with cheap muesli and it wasn't anywhere near as good.

I'd also like to thank you all for reading my blog, I have gotten some great feedback - so thanks. And if you haven't joined yet, please join the "Baked By Wayne" Facebook group at:

https://www.facebook.com/BakedByWayne

I also included these biscuits in a massive collection of baking I did today for my friend Corey's short film shoot. "Dante's Folly" is being shot this weekend in Shepparton and I'm travelling up there for a small role - exciting. Anyway, more recipes next week, this weekend is a massive one for me.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of Self Raising Flour, sifted

1 cup of Toasted Muesli

1 cup of Sultanas

3/4 cup of Rolled Oats

1/2 cup of Brown Sugar

125g of Unsalted Butter, melted

1 Egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon of Honey

Sprinkle of Cinnamon Sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1 - Preheat oven to 190°c and line 2 biscuits trays with liners or baking paper.

2 - Toss dry ingredients in a large bowl with a wooden spoon.

3 - Add melted butter, egg and honey and stir with spoon until combined.

4 - Use your hands to make balls, about the size of a dessert spoon.

5 - Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until golden.

6 - Enjoy and pretend they're healthy.

Have a great weekend and do some baking if you have time!

Wayne

xx 

Red Velvet Cheesecake

RED VELVET CHEESECAKE

So we all know by now that I LOVE to bake. The joy of baking is about the sharing. Sure I enjoy to taste what I've eaten, but mostly my joy comes from other people eating my baking wares and enjoying them. So I am always chuffed when people ask me to bake for them. My friend Steph was having a birthday party and asked if I'd make her a cake. I didn't even need to think about it, of course I would. I asked her what she liked and she rattled off a few things, but the two which stuck were red velvet and cheesecake. Now I found a recipe I had been wanting to try that combined the two - this was my chance to try it.

Now the cake was a smash, it was all gone within minutes of being cut. I'm a little upset with myself that I didn't get better pictures of the cake because it was beautiful (even if I do say so myself). The cake was tasty, and the cheesecake was creamy and a perfect partner. I will definitely be making this one again! It is a little fiddly, and takes some time, but is worth it. So make sure you do what I did, and make it the day before you need it. It can use that extra time in the fridge to keep everything set and just make the icing the morning before the party.

This recipe was originally from Taste, here is the link:

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/28851/red+velvet+cheesecake

INGREDIENTS:

Cake:

185g butter, softened

155g caster sugar

2 eggs

115g self raising flour, sifted 

40g plain flour, sifted

2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon of bicarb soda

1/2 cup of buttermilk

Red food colouring (I used a gel bottle)

Oil, for greasing

White chocolate to top cake with

Cheesecake Filling:

250g cream cheese, room temperature

70g caster sugar

2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons of warm water

1 1/2 tsp gelatine powder

300ml thickened cream

Cream Cheese Frosting

250g cream cheese, at room temperature

60g unsalted butter, softened

80g icing sugar, sifted

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1 - Preheat oven to 180°C and spray a round 22cm (base measurement) cake pan with canola spray. Also line the base with non-stick baking paper.

2 - Use an electric beater to beat butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

3 - Combine the self-raising flour, plain flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl. Stir flour mixture and buttermilk, in alternating batches, into butter mixture. Stir in food colouring.

4 - Spoon mixture into pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean. 

5 - Cool slightly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.Cut cake in half horizontally. Trim the top if the middle has risen too much.

6 - To make the filling, use an electric beater to beat cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth. 

7 - Place the water in a heatproof jug or bowl. Add the gelatine. Place the jug in a saucepan and add boiling water to come halfway up the side of the jug. Stir until the gelatine dissolves. Add to the filling and beat until combined.

8 - Use an electric beater to beat the cream in a bowl until soft peaks form. Fold into the cream cheese mixture.

9 - Brush your cleaned and cool cake pan with oil. Line base and side with plastic wrap, allowing side to overhang. Place cake base, cut-side up, in pan. Spread with filling. Top with cake top. Fold over plastic wrap. Place in the fridge overnight to chill.

10 - To make the frosting, use an electric beater to beat the cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl until well combined. Turn cake onto a serving plate. Spread with frosting. Decorate with chocolate curls, or shaved chocolate as I did.

11 - Enjoy

Been baking a lot lately for various people, so will lots coming over the next weeks. Remember, if you have a request, let me know and I'll have a go!

Wayne

xx 

Bakes from my birthday - a love letter to Raspberri Cupcakes

BAKES FROM MY BIRTHDAY - A LOVE LETTER TO RASPBERRI CUPCAKES

So it was my birthday recently, 38. Yes, I'm getting old. I had a few friends round to help celebrate which was wonderful. As a former Sydney boy who's only been in Melbourne 2.5 years, I feel very blessed to have made such great friends. Especially generous ones, the presents were incredible - including a brilliant new coffee machine that I'd marry if I could. And it was very lucky my Mother was able to make the trip down. She has not been very well at all. Loved having Mum here and was extra happy I was able to share with her my newish baking skills and how they've evolved.

Now baking is a really Melbourne thing for me, I have a bigger kitchen than I did in Sydney. (Any Sydney friends will know how small my Newtown box was). Part of my evolution as a baker has been about getting baking crushes on other bakers through their blogs. My favourite is definitely Steph from Raspberri Cupcakes. Her bakes are divine and I have been making her stuff for a while. A few I often get requests for are the Spiced Blondies with Chai Infused Ganache, the Cherry Shortbread Bites and the Malted and Salted Choc-Chip Cookies. I knew I wanted to make some of her bakes for my birthday, so I did. I'll share with you what they are. Now her recipes are so good I never need to change ingredients. I don't want to steal from her, so instead I'll post links to the recipes. Plus please check out all her recipes and amazing pics. She is a Baking God and you will be salivating. Friends, I will take requests if you want me to bake more of her stuff.

Now the first one was the birthday cake. My good friend Hannah said I shouldn't make my own cake, but I really wanted to. Mostly to make this great cake. Steph's original recipe was a purple ombre cake, but I decided to make a rainbow cake instead. Gay much? The recipe was the same, all I changed were the colours and I made 4 layers like she suggested in the recipe. Now the sprinkles task was difficult, especially when I only had a few minutes till people started arriving, but it was worth it. It looked amazing.

Here's the recipe link:

http://www.raspberricupcakes.com/2011/11/purple-ombre-sprinkle-cake.html

Next up are the Neopolitan Melting Moments, or Yo-Yo's as they are called here in Melbourne. I had been wanting to make these for a while. I love how the melting moments, melt in your mouth. Hence the name. And the different flavours in these just sounded wonderful, and they were. Yes, they took a while to make, but were worth it. Out of all my birthday baked goods, these were the ones I was keenest to try. I changed nothing, the recipe was spot on.

Here's the link:
http://www.raspberricupcakes.com/2010/06/neopolitan-melting-moments.html

Finally there was the lemon meringue cheesecake. I made this for my boyfriend's birthday this year. It's the trend to make a cheesecake for him for his birthday, he loves them. Last year was the apple pie cheesecake, this year was the lemon meringue one. Mum loved the sound of it and asked me to make it for her when she was down. Of course I couldn't say no to my favourite person, and happily made it again. Plus, it's bloody tasty. The combination of lemon meringue and the cheesecake is a perfect match. I highly recommend this for your next dinner party. Again, I changed nothing from the original Raspberri Cupcakes recipe.

Here's the link:
http://www.raspberricupcakes.com/2009/05/lemon-meringue-cheesecake.html

The party was a success, as were the baked goods. There were a few other things I made I may share soon too. But I really want to write this blog to say thanks to Steph at Raspberri Cupcakes for inspiring me and pushing my baking to new heights. I look forward to seeing more of your amazing creations.

Back on Monday with the red velvet cheesecake my friends have been asking me to share.

Wayne

xx

Muesli Bars

MUESLI BARS

So as you all know, I love to bake. It's probably why I've put on some weight this past year. But baked goods are just so tasty! I thought maybe I should find some healthy items to make. I've always like muesli bars so I searched for some recipes. This is one is sooooo simple and even though it has condensed milk, it's nowhere near as bad for you as biscuits or cakes. I made these, they were tasty and they lasted well. The next week I was still able to eat them as a snack. So make yourself one of these to take to work instead of buying that muffin or raiding the biscuit barrel. Plus, for the amount it makes, it really is very cost effective.

INGREDIENTS:

3 and a 1/2 cups of rolled oats
395 gram can of condensed milk
1 cup of dry fruit (or you could pretty much put in what you like, healthy or not)

DIRECTIONS:

1 - Preheat oven to 120°c and line a tray with baking paper. Can use a lasagne pan, I used a brownie tin.

2 - Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

3 - Place contents in the prepared tin, patting it down and making it even.

4 - Bake for 1 hour.

5 - Wait to cool and then slice into bars. Keep in an airtight container.

Back tomorrow with some of the birthday goodies I prepared.

Butterscotch Self-Saucing Pudding

BUTTERSCOTCH SELF-SAUCING PUDDING

Yes, I have been incredibly slack on my fairly new baking blog! My excuse is not even that good, or original. I've been busy, plus it was my birthday. I get a pardon for that, right? So in the next few days I will upload a number of recipes, including my stunning rainbow sprinkles layer birthday cake (!) and the red velvet cheesecake. But first, a nice and easy one that is a simple dessert for these cold winter nights. Melbourne has been freezing, and I have to admit - I like that! I've made a chocolate self-saucing pudding before, but never a butterscotch one. This was pretty tasty, and with the classic pairing of vanilla icecream, it was pretty sublime. The surprise of a self-saucing pudding is also pretty good, and impressive for guests. Writing about that, just made me hungry!! May make it again tonight.

INGREDIENTS:

Pudding:

3/4 cup of self-raising flour (sifted)

2/3 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of milk

60 grams of butter (melted)

Syrup:

1 &1/2 cups of water

1 tablespoon of golden syrup

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

1 - Pre-heat oven to 180°c. Grease ovenproof dish or individual ramekins as I did.

2 - Combine pudding ingredients together in a bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon.

3 - Spoon the batter into the dish/dishes.

4 - Place the syrup ingredients into a small saucepan and heat until melts and ingredients combine. Be careful not to heat it too much as you don't want it to boil.

5 - Pour syrup slowly into the dish/dishes. To ensure you don't separate pudding it is best to pour the syrup over the back of a soon as shown in the picture above.

6 - Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top has browned.

7 - Let them cool for a few minutes before serving.

Thanks guys and catch you again tomorrow!!