Category Archives: whole

Chocolate Tart

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Chocolate Tart

Pastry:

  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 1/2 cups plain flour
  • 2 Tbs icing sugar
  • 125g chilled butter
  • 1 Tbs chilled water

Filling:

  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup caster sugar
  • 1/3 cup thickened cream
  • 200g dark chocolate
  • Cocoa for dusting
  1. Place flour and icing sugar in a bowl. Chop the butter into small cubes and rub into the flour until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg yolk and water to the flour and mix through thoroughly, adding more water little by little if necessary until the mixture just holds together.
  2. Place dough on a lightly floured board and knead it until smooth, being careful not to knead beyond this point. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 mins.
  3. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C.  Roll out pastry to fit a 24cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Line the tin with pastry, cutting off pastry edges which protrude beyond the rim of the tart tin. Place tin on a baking tray and blind-bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie weights and continue baking for approximately 5 more minutes, or until pastry is beginning to colour. Allow pastry to cool and reduce oven temperature to 140 degrees C.
  4. To make the filling, melt the chocolate and allow it to begin cooling but not to set. Beat the egg yolks, whole eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until thick and creamy. The whole mixture should be aerated and a ribbon should trail from the beaters when lifted. Continue beating as you pour in the chocolate, and finally the cream. Continue beating until ingredients are evenly combined but no further.
  5. Pour the filling into the pastry and bake for 25 to 30 mins or until just set. Allow to cool on the bench top, then refrigerate. Before serving, dust top with cocoa. Serve with cream and fresh berries.

Vicky’s Mum’s Ginger Biscuits

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Ginger Cookies

When a trip into town for a taste of these biscuits was the highlight of my week, I just knew I had to get the recipe. It took some begging!

  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups plain flour
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 heaped tsp powdered ginger
  • A little salt
  • 125g butter or margarine
  • 2 Tbs golden syrup

Makes 24

  1. Line 2 biscuit trays with baking paper. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C.
  2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Rub butter through dry ingredients until mixture resembles breadcrumbs
  3. In a separate bowl, beat together egg and golden syrup. Tip eggs into flour mixture and combine using a cutting action rather than stirring.
  4. Once the mixture comes together, take a teaspoon a time and roll into a ball. Place on biscuit trays with enough room to allow for spreading, and use three fingers to depress the top and flatten the balls a little.
  5. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Savoury Muffins

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A delicious lunch box treat or perfect for a picnic … as well as something to use up the left-over ham after Christmas.

  • 1 egg
  • 80g butter
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 cups self-raising flour
  • 100g feta cheese
  • 100g diced ham
  • 1/3 cup semi-dried tomatoes
  • 1 Tbs chopped fresh rosemary leaves
  • 1/3 cup shredded cheese
  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a 12-hole muffin tray.
  2. Melt butter in a pyrex jug. Add milk and egg and whisk to combine.
  3. Sift flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour the butter, milk and egg mixture into the well and stir until almost combined.
  4. Finely chop the semi-dried tomatoes and crumble the fetta cheese. Add the semi-dried tomatoes, fetta, ham and rosemary leaves to the dough, folding through until the mixture just comes together.
  5. Distribute the mixture evenly among the holes in the muffin tray and top with a little shredded cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the muffins spring back when lightly pressed. Cool on a wire rack. Most delicious served warm with butter.

Honey-Spice Biscuits

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These more-ish biscuits are a delicious alternative to gingerbread.

Biscuits:

  • 1 egg
  • 1 ½ cups brown sugar
  • 250g softened butter
  • 2 ½ tsp mixed spice
  • 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 2 ¾ cups plain flour
  • 1 Tbs baking powder
  • 2 Tbs castor sugar

Icing:

  • 1 ½ cups icing sugar
  • 125g butter
  • ¼ cup honey
  1. Cream 250g butter and brown sugar. Add egg and combine. Add flour a cup at a time, and finally the baking powder, mixed spice and cinnamon. Mixture should come together to form a dough – remove from bowl, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 mins.
  2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line four biscuit trays with baking paper.
  3. Remove dough from fridge and pull into four parts. Roll out each part in turn on a lightly floured bench and use a cookie cutter to cut shapes from the dough. Transfer to baking tray and sprinkle with castor sugar. Bake in batches for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
  4. Allow biscuits to cool on the tray for five minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
  5. Beat the remaining butter and the honey, adding icing sugar half a cup at a time. Spread icing over half the biscuits, then place un-iced biscuits on top, matching for size. Store in an air-tight container.

Macaroni Lunch Slice

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This recipe is perfectly suited to using up left-over vegetables after a roast or barbeque, lending itself well to chargrilled capsicum, zucchini, mushrooms, etc. Add sundried tomatoes or olives for more intense flavours. When I don’t have left-over veggies, I tend to use a jar of char-grilled marinated vegetables, which goes like a treat! Macaroni lunch slice packs well for mid-week lunches or a weekend picnic.

  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup macaroni (uncooked)
  • 1 cup (250g tub) cottage cheese
  • ½ cup roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 1 cup cooked vegetables
  • 1 tsp mixed dried herbs
  • 2/3 cup shredded tasty cheese
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Grease and line a 20cm x 20cm cake tin.
  2. Cook the macaroni in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for ten minutes. Drain and place in a bowl.
  3. Add the parsley, cottage cheese, eggs, vegetables and herbs to the pasta and combine. Season to taste.
  4. Press into the baking tin, using the back of a spoon to smooth over the top. Spread shredded cheese over top.
  5. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool for a while in the pan before removing and cutting into squares. Serve warm or cold.