Wintertime

Winter has definitely arrived, it's certainly getting cold around here!

On the shortest day of the year (while waiting for the snow that never really arrived) I baked a gingerbread cake in honour of the winter solstice. It was nice to spend some time in the kitchen, it's one thing I've been missing.

If you'd like to give this cake a try, here's what you'll need:

Winter Solstice Gingerbread Cake

3/4 cup golden syrup
1 1/4 cups boiling water
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
85 grams butter, softened
1 large free range egg

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper. Add the golden syrup and baking soda to the boiling water. Set aside and let cool to room temperature. Whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In an electric mixer cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat the egg with a fork, and then beat it into the creamed mixture a little bit at a time. On low speed add the cooled syrup mixture to the creamed mixture until just combined (don't worry if the mixture looks a bit curdled at this point). Stir in the dry ingredients only to blend. Pour into the prepared cake tin. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Serve hot or cold with a citrus sauce.

The original recipe can be found here.

More Xmas Treats

A couple of years ago I made oreo truffles to give to friends at Xmas (a little bit of an improvement on cards!) and every year since then I've thought about doing something similar.

This year I finally followed through on my good intentions, and made these chocolate chip cookie dough truffles:

It took a lot of self control to actually give these to people and not keep them all for myself!

Snapshots: Sticky Buns

Recipe from here if you want to give them a try.

Current Obsession: Ultimate Sandwich

Photo Credit

Ever since reading this blog post I've become obsessed with the ultimate sandwich. So much so that about 80% of my diet currently consists of sandwiches or sandwich derivitives. When I tried to make a shopping list today I couldn't think of anything else we could have for a meal.

The key is to make a sandwich so big that you can only just manage to take a bite. I've been dreaming up the best combinations and our latest attempt included (from top to bottom):

• Ciabata bread
• Melted cheese
• Avocado
• Cos lettuce
• Sundried tomoato
• Chicken
• Mushrooms fried in butter
• Artichoke
• More melted cheese
• Ciabata bread

I can't wait for Thursday, which is officially ultimate sandwich night at our house!

Vanilla Essence

The first goal I've completed for 2012 was to make some vanilla essence. Well mostly completed anyway - it takes six months to mature so technically it won't be finished til July. But I'm going to ignore that little detail and mark this goal as done.

My favourite part of making the vanilla essence was buying the vodka. The drinking age in New Zealand is eighteen, so I was amused when the guy behind the counter asked for some ID. I'm old enough to take that as a compliment now!

I used the instructions from here if you're interested in making some yourself.

Experiments with Yogurt Making

A few months ago I bought Home Dairy with Ashley English, and have been trying to make the perfect batch of yogurt. The process is easy enough: heating milk, letting it cool and adding live yogurt culture, then keeping at a medium heat for a few hours.

My first batch was much too thin, and the second wasn't much better. I added milk powder to thicken the next batch and things were looking good. I was using the slow cooker as the incubator, and every now and then turning the heat on to make sure the temperature didn't get too low. I left for about half an hour to take the dog for a walk, and when I returned I realised instead of turning the slow cooker off, I'd turned it to high! Yogurt does not like high temperature, and curdling ensued.

Last weekend I decided to have another go and was finally successful! I've been having it unsweetened with muesli and fruit most mornings this week, but I made sure to save a couple of spoonfuls as a starter for the next batch. My next experiment will be adding some flavour, any suggestions?

How to Make Pasta

In an effort to use up some more eggs I'm planning on making a few batches of pasta. It's one of those things that sounds way more complicated than it actually is, so if you're interested here are some basic instructions:

Combine a couple of eggs and just under one cup of flour per egg in a bowl and mix until you get a nice lump of dough.

Knead the dough on a floured surface, just for a minute or two is fine. If the dough is sticky then add some more flour.

Roll out the dough, it's really important to get it as thin as you can since the pasta expands quite a lot when cooked.

Cut into thin strips for fettuccine, then hang the pasta to dry for at least ten minutes. I usually set up a wire oven tray over an empty sink.

This is the best time to make the pasta sauce (here is a good recipe).

Add the pasta to a pot of boiling water with a little salt and olive oil. It will only need a few minutes to cook, I usually test it after about five.

Once it's cooked, drain the pasta then add the sauce and enjoy!

Xmas Treats

I’ve always preferred chocolate over cards, and I’m sure there’s a lot of people around who share my sentiment! For this reason I attempted a batch of oreo truffles to share with friends and spread some holiday cheer.

Very good for a sugar hit (as if I don’t eat enough chocolate over Christmas time already!) Here’s the easy to follow recipe if you’re so inclined.

Amazing Cheese Fondue

On Wednesday night I went round to Sorrel's house for cheese fondue. She'd been promising to make me some for ages, so I was very excited!

The menu included:

• Three kinds of cheeses (or maybe it was four?)
• Bread lightly fried with garlic
• Chicken cooked with herbs
• Mini sausages
• Chicken & basil ravioli
• Perfect roast potatoes
• Lightly cooked broccoli
• Raw carrots
• Corn chips
• Crackers

Best. Meal. Ever.

A fondue set has now made it to the top of my wish list!