Baking Archives - Page 4 of 5

White chocolate and macadamia cookies

By Lisa @ My Capital Plate on September 21, 2016 | 1 Comment

Canberra feels more like Melbourne at the moment – warm Spring days one minute, and cold overcast days the next.

And rain.

So much rain.

So with two kids who are also a little under the weather, there has been lots of time spent indoors. Lego, puzzles, dress-ups and a personal favourite, baking!

Cookies were on the agenda the other day. But rather than turn to our regular spelt chocolate chip or freckle cookies, we went with a white chocolate and macadamia version instead.

As is usually the case, Miss C had a great time helping me measure out the ingredients and control the mixer speed, and Little J loved flattening down the cookies when they were placed on the trays. Although both kids quickly disappeared when they realised it was time to do the dishes!?

The cookies kept well for a few days, and I suspect they would keep for longer if they weren’t gobbled up so quickly!

White chocolate and macadamia cookies (makes 12 large)

125g butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups self raising flour, sifted
120g white chocolate chips
120g chopped macadamias

Preheat oven to 180C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
Beat the butter and brown sugar until pale and creamy. Add the egg, and continue beating until combined.
Stir in the sifted flour, chocolate and nuts, and mix until well combined.
Roll out heaped tablespoons of the mixture into balls, and place on the prepared trays (well spaced). Gently press to flatten slightly.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden. Cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

What about you? Do you have a favourite cookie recipe?

Rainbow cookies

By Lisa @ My Capital Plate on July 14, 2016

Being a family that loves the outdoors, spending almost an entire week inside with 2 sick kids has been..well…interesting.

We’ve had to avoid the frigid outdoor temperatures (which even resulted in a little snow on one day) searching instead for indoor activities to keep everyone entertained.

Needless to say there has been lots of movies, drawing, role play, lego and…baking!

These rainbow cookies were a great baking activity for the girls. Not only for the end result (and all the chocolate freckles we consumed along the way), but also for the process of creating them itself. C loved turning the mixer on and off, and helping me roll the biscuits into little balls, before placing a freckle on top of each. And, J, well she sat nearby passing us various ingredients and even gave the mixture a little stir.

Into the oven for 14 minutes, then it was ‘hands off’ for at least a few more minutes to allow them to cool. We then wasted no time in having ourselves a lovely afternoon tea of warm cookies straight out of the oven.

So, while a trip to the park was not an option this week, spending time in the kitchen backing with the kids was a pretty great (and delicious) alternative!

You can find the recipe here.

5 things Friday

By Lisa @ My Capital Plate on June 3, 2016 | 1 Comment

I know, I know. Two posts in one week! That has to be some kinda record for me right?! But I’m working on improving my blogging routine, so here goes! Perhaps the colder weather has got something to do with it? For even the cat is picking the warmth of home over her usual daily adventures outside…

1. While my two girls definitely enjoy playing outside, they are seemingly happy to take little adventures inside too. Particularly when they can transform our dining room into a cubby house…

2. Also on the cards? Lots of baking and creating in the kitchen. With a side kick who is more than happy to help when she realises there is chocolate involved…
3. I *finally* finished J’s “first year” album, and I could not be more pleased. I did one for C too – and they have been such a great trip down memory lane (and great gifts for the grandparents!)

4. Currently loving? These lunchboxes from “Yum Box”.

They are definitely not the cheapest, but they are sturdy and easy to clean (win for me!). C also loves the novelty of the compartments and always directs, with great precision, what must feature and in what compartment.

5. We have a rather ‘free’ weekend coming up, which is pretty damn awesome. A parents’ night out and a degustation dinner just *might* be on the cards too…Can’t wait!

What about you? What are you up to on the weekend?

Cherry & Seed ANZAC Slice

By Lisa @ My Capital Plate on April 25, 2016 | 1 Comment

We kept things low-key this ANZAC day, opting for silent and personal reflections on the significance of the day – rather than heading out with the crowds for the Dawn Service or a game of two-up.

There was, however, an opportunity to pay tribute to an ol’ classic of the day – the ANZAC biscuit.

Although, on this occasion, I made a slice instead of individual biscuits. It had all the usual ANZAC biscuit characteristics – with oats, coconut and golden syrup making their star appearances. But it had a few new flavours also – with wild cherries and various seeds being thrown into the mix.

The result being a rather lovely little slice that we have been nibbling on most of the day. A handy addition to the kids’ lunchboxes this week too, I suspect.

Cherry & Seed ANZAC slice

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup seed mix
125g butter
2 tbs golden syrup
2 tbs boiling water
1/2 tsp bicarb soda

Preheat oven to 170C and line a slice pan with baking paper.
Combine the oats, flour, brown sugar and coconut in a bowl – then stir through the cherries and seeds.
Meanwhile, melt the butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan over a low heat. Remove.
Add the boiling water to the bicarb soda, and stir. Then add to the golden syrup mixture (careful – it will bubble up).
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until combined.
Spoon into the prepared slice tray, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
Slice and serve.

What about you? How did you commemorate ANZAC day?

Other ANZAC baking ideas you might like to try:

Coco-banana muffins

By Lisa @ My Capital Plate on April 7, 2016 | 2 Comments

My weekly routine inevitably changed when Miss C started pre-school and I increased my work hours, and I feel as if I’ve been trying to find the “new normal” ever since. The days are quite frantic, as I work out who needs to be where, with what, and when (all while desperately hoping that I don’t mess things up and forget a school pick-up!).

To try and streamline things, I’ve changed from little grocery shops throughout the week to (hopefully) a big shop once per week. This is working quite well, although the rate at which my girls consume yoghurt has meant there have been a few emergency yoghurt dashes.

And, on occasion, the bananas that I bought at the start of the week do not look so fantastic at the end of the week. But we all know that overripe bananas can be perfect for baking – with the added bonus that a healthy baked treat makes a perfect school lunch-box addition.

On this occasion, I had two quite sad looking bananas taking up my fruit bowl. A quick rustle through the pantry revealed that we also had coconut and honey.

And so these little banana-coconut beauties came to be.

I used smaller patty cases, which yielded around 20 – and the whole batch took only 20 minutes or so to make – from start to finish.

I kept some out for the next few days, and froze the others in bags of two for future lunch-box additions.
Miss C wolfed down a few as soon as the came out of the oven, without noticing that I’d reduced the sugar content – so I’m calling it a kid snack win!

Coco-Banana Muffins – makes 20 small muffins

2 cups self raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup coconut
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup milk
2 tbs honey
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 180C, and line a couple muffin pans with paper cases.
Sift the flour, bicarb soda and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir through the salt, sugar and coconut.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, milk, honey, eggs, vanilla extract and banana until well combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined.
Divide between paper cases and bake for 12-15 minutes.

(As I mentioned, I made 20 smaller muffins. If you wanted to make bigger muffins, just allow a little longer cooking time).

What about you? What’s your favourite way to use up leftover bananas?

Mocha Brownie Cake

By Lisa @ My Capital Plate on February 14, 2016 | 2 Comments

When you have a one year old who is yet to sleep through the night, and someone offers to send you free coffee, well you are most certainly NOT going to say no.

Throw in an invitation to create a coffee-inspired recipe, and well it is pretty much a sure-fire thing.

The caffeine hero on this occasion was Di Bella Coffee, who treated me with some coffee beans and aromatic coffee capsules (that I was super pleased to find out fit into our trusty Nespresso machine just perfectly.

Starting as a small coffee roasting business in Brisbane in 2002, Di Bella now has an international reach (although they still source 100% of their coffee beans “directly from the farmer”). I tested their Ari blend – touted to be “rich and strong with hints of raw cacao and a bright citrus finish” – and it did not disappoint. It was definitely smooth, and had a wonderful aroma.

But I also wanted to test out its flavour in a recipe. And given that coffee + chocolate seem to be an appropriate combination when one has a little case of the sleepies, a mocha brownie cake seemed to be a logical solution.

Rich fudgey chocolate cake, that was a little more “brownie” than your traditional chocolate cake. Completed with a little caffeine kick owing to the coffee contained within. On this occasion, we served slices of the cake as an after-dinner treat, although it would also work served warm with a scoop of vanilla icecream.

Mocha brownie cake

200g dark chocolate
125g butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 pods espresso (extracted / short poured)
1 cup plain flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a square baking tin (18 x 18cm).
Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir until smooth.
Add the sugar, oil, eggs and coffee, and whisk until well combined.
Sift over the flour and baking powder, and fold in with a metal spoon until just combined.
Pour into the prepared pan, and bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan.

A big thankyou to Di Bella Coffee for the opportunity to work with a new (to me) Aussie product (and for the caffeine kick!)

What about you? Are you a coffee fan?

Our Australia Day ‘Tasting’ Menu

By Lisa @ My Capital Plate on January 27, 2016 | 3 Comments

This year we decided to celebrate Mr BBB’s birthday on Australia Day – for the whole family had the day off (and his actual birthday is only a day later in any event).

It seemed only appropriate to go with a very Australian theme, but I struggled to settle on a menu. For every region of this beautiful Country seems to have its own unique flavours, tastes and influences – and it would be shame to overlook them.

Then I had a lightbulb moment. I would create a menu of ‘tastes’, and take our family on a culinary tour of Australia. Inspired by and hopefully highlighting local and native flavours.

My big goal was to use only Australian produce and ingredients, and I am pleased to report that with the help of the markets, delis and local stores, that goal was met

Tasmania

We started our tour in Tasmania – a State that I have never visited but heard so many wonderful things about.

Our first dish was created using Tasmanian Huon smoked salmon, dill crème fraiche (Yea) and cucumber – resulting in a lovely little canapé to start our meal.

Victoria

From there we headed across the Bass Straight to Victoria, where ricotta and Beechworth honey were the key ingredients in our second dish.

On the menu? Ricotta crostini with ricotta, pear, walnuts and honey.

Washed down with a Napoleone & Co apple / pear cider from the Yarra Valley.

Australian Capital Territory

We headed to my hometown next, and I knew that smoked chicken from Poacher’s Pantry had to feature (yes, yes, I know it is technically located just over the border but we can claim it as our own surely??!).

Our third dish of the day was a smoked chicken tarlet, with a homemade rocket pesto and bush tomato relish from Posh Nosh (a local creator of all things relish!).

New South Wales

We then continued our journey north, stopping in New South Wales for a salad.

Created with spinach, apples, feta and wild cherries, dressed with a tasty black genoa fig vinegar from the Hunter Valley.

Queensland

Next stop – the Sunshine state. With gorgeous Tiger prawns and an abundance of tropical fruit as our focus.

I marinated the prawns in a little oil and lemon zest, then they were cooked on the BBQ. Accompanied by a fruit salsa – comprising pineapple, mango, nectarine and mint.

Served with a Pepper Tree Pinot Gris.

Northern Territory

Then it was onto the Northern Territory – with barramundi as our key ingredient.

Seasoned with native lemon pepper from Herbies, and cooked on the BBQ. Finished with a little Murrumbooee mango and tamarind chutney on the side.

On the side? Some freshly baked wattleseed damper rolls.

Western Australia

We then headed west for our last savoury dish of the day (letting out our belt-buckles as we went). I couldn’t resist including kangaroo on the menu (and it turns out that Little J is a big fan!).

Marinated in white wine and ground pepperberry, and cooked on the BBQ. Served on a carrot puree with a red wine and pepperberry jus.

Enjoyed with a glass of Marmaduke Shiraz.

South Australia

Our last stop for the day was South Australia. With inspiration taken from its gorgeous wine regions.

To conclude our meal? Sparkling Shiraz jellies – with raspberries and blueberries. A sweet ending.

And just like that our culinary trip around Australia was complete. Although not before squeezing in a few games of Australia Day bingo (or should that be Australia Day ‘cooee’).

It was definitely a fun afternoon, sampling so many unique flavours. Not to mention rekindling a love for local ingredients and suppliers, discovering some new favourite products along the way.

What about you? How did you spend your Australia Day?

Salted Caramel Apple Crumble

By Lisa @ My Capital Plate on January 22, 2016 | 4 Comments

Kids and their appetites can be funny. And frustrating.

While Little J is definitely an ‘eater’, her big sister has a case of the ongoing fussies when it comes to meal times. She does, however, LOVE fruit, to the extent that I probably should take out a line of credit at our local greengrocer.

Her favourite fruit at the moment? Apples. Red, green – it doesn’t matter.

So with a fruit bowl laden with apples, and a desire to create a dessert for a family dinner, an apple crumble seemed to be the logical choice. Jazzed up with a salted caramel sauce because and a crunchy spiced ‘crumble’, this turned out to be quite the crowd pleaser.

Served with cream AND ice-cream because…well…we could!

Salted caramel apple crumble (serves 6-8)

6 apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 cup cream
1 cup brown sugar + 1/2 cup
100g butter x 2
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
1 cup plain flour, sifted
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup oats
1/2 cup flaked almonds

Preheat oven to 180C and lightly grease an oven-proof dish.
Melt the cream, 1 cup brown sugar, 100g butter in a saucepan over a medium heat (around 5 minutes). Bring to a simmer, and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon, ginger and salt. Add apples and stir to coat. Pour into prepared baking dish.
To make the crumble – place flour, nutmeg, oats and brown sugar into a large bowl. Rub in 100g chilled / cubed butter with your fingertips, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir through flaked almonds.
Top apples with crumble mixture and bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and the apples are soft.
Serve with cream or icecream (or both!)

What about you? Do you have a favourite fruit dessert?

Edible Gifts: Chocolate Bark – 5 ways

By Lisa @ My Capital Plate on January 19, 2016

With two little ones, and the growing number of daycare teachers, swimming teachers, gym teachers and the like, buying gifts for all of them at Christmas time can get a little pricey. So we went down the home-made route this year (or should that be ‘last year’?) and chose to make a variety of chocolate bark.

And yes, while it meant a little extra work, it was great to be able to involve Miss C in the whole mixing / sprinkling process.

We actually made five varieties – which does seem a bit overkill, but once they were cut and divided, it allowed each recipient to get a little sample of each.

Our chosen flavours?

White chocolate peppermint.

Dark chocolate, cranberry and pistachio

Milk chocolate, caramel and pretzel

White chocolate, apricot, walnut and coconut

Milk chocolate and honeycomb

And while you could certainly break the bark into ‘shards’, I sliced the mixture into ‘bars’ after it had been in the fridge for 5 minutes or so, making nice and even portions to fit into the gift boxes.

Divided with some pieces of baking paper, and with a little ‘list’ indicating the various flavours, I was really pleased with how these turned out.

All wrapped up and ready to go!

What about you? Do you have a ‘go to’ home-made gift?

Christmas 2015

By Lisa @ My Capital Plate on January 16, 2016

The title of this post should actually be Christmases 2015, as we were lucky enough to celebrate Christmas not once, not twice, but on three occasions. And although it is probably a tad late to post about Christmas when we are over half way through January, I figured “why not”?

One

The first of our celebrations took place during the week before Christmas at Gumbuya Park. We met up with my Dad and spent the day wandering the animal enclosures, patting kangaroos and squeezing into the various rides. It turned out to be the perfect venue for a casual Christmas catch up, and visiting on a Monday meant that we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Not even the unexpectedly cool temperature could dampen our spirits!

(I love this pic – for it shows J’s current obsession with things she finds on the ground. Although I suspect that 2 seconds after taking this photo she would have put the leaf in her mouth….)

Two

Our second Christmas, well that was on the day itself. Little J’s remarkably reliable body clock saw us up and out for a walk at 5.30am, and a little while after returning home Miss C woke and excitedly discovered her gifts (she had requested a cash register from Santa!)

Later that morning, we headed to lunch with my sister-in-law’s family, where we feasted on all the delicious Christmas trimmings – meat, salads, prawns, champagne… finished with a layered eggnog + ginger cake that I contributed to the meal. The day was a hot one, so we even squeezed in a walk to the beach – where Miss C, in particular, had a fantastic time splashing around! A highlight of the day, was definitely taking all the newborn cuddles I could get – with my gorgeous 13 day
old nephew.

Three

Returning home from Melbourne, we held a late Christmas “linner” with Mr BBB’s family in Canberra. A casual afternoon, filled with family and food (always a winning combination). We hosted the linner at our place, keeping the menu simple. Mr BBB cooked a turkey roll and some pork in the BBQ, and his family supplied some delicious salads – meaning there was no need for me to turn on the oven at all! Dessert was a tropical pavlova – topped with lemon curd cream, mango, lychees, passionfruit and coconut. All washed down with peach bellinis.

And so we came out the ‘other side’ of our extended Christmas celebrations feeling rather relaxed and perhaps a little more rotund. The girls had an absolute blast along the way, and were thoroughly spoilt.

A delightful end to 2015 indeed!