Lemon Meringue Pie

How refreshing is a lemon meringue pie? In the closing months of July, it was surprisingly sunny in New Zealand (this being a time in the middle of winter). My mother had just picked her rather small crop of lemons from her precious tree, and they were starting to go a little wrinkly. I compromised with her, and ended up with the mission to make lemon meringue pie. However, I did cheat a little. As the name suggests, the pie needs to have a crust. But with a deadline of that same day’s lunch, and the fact the lemon curd needs to be chilled, I decided to crumb up a packet of Malt biscuits and stir in some melted butter. This worked fine though I might add a bit more butter next time as the base didn’t hold together as well as I thought it should.

The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of lemon juice, in which last years yield of lemons did not accommodate. So, I substituted and used only a cup of lemon juice, and 1 3/4 of a cup of water. This made a great curd, that was still tart, but wasn’t too harsh and had a delicate sweetness to it. After completing the base and curd and storing it in the fridge (the recipe filled to flans full!), I was ready to beat up those egg whites. They say you are to add some baking powder to the meringue to make it even lighter, but I don’t think this is necessary unless you’re seriously bad at making meringue.

By lunch, I had made two delicious warm Lemon Meringue Pies ready to be eaten. And eaten they were. One thing I love about Lemon Meringue Pie is that it can be eaten at any temperature. (This also makes it a dangerous dish at that!)

My family enjoyed it so much that they requested that I would make it for my sisters birthday the following week!

Ingredients:

250g Griffin's Malt Biscuits
100g Butter (melted)
½ Cup Cornflour
1½ Cups Caster Sugar
1½ Cups Lemon Juice
1¼ Cups Water
60g Butter
4 Eggs
2 tsp Lemon Rind

Instructions:

1. Put the Malt Biscuits into a food processor and blend until like breadcrumbs.

2. Add 100g butter (melted) and mix.

3. Press biscuit mixture into a flan tin, refrigerate.

4. Mix cornflour and ½ C caster sugar in saucepan, gradually stirring in lemon juice and water. Stir on a high heat until boiling and the mixture is thick. Reduce heat and simmer.

5. Remove from heat and stir in extra butter, egg yolks and lemon rind. Let cool for 10 – 15 minutes.

6. Spread mixture over biscuit base, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

7. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, add remaining caster sugar, beating until sugar dissolves.

8. Spread the meringue mixture over base forming peaks. Bake in the oven until meringue is slightly browned.

Fruit Mince Pies

One of the best Christmas inventions of all times would have to be Christmas Mince Pies. They are AMAZING! Though I have only ever bought them, this year I decided that it was time I made these delicious morsels. I had to confirm with my mother that it would be okay, and as she knew of my love of them, she KNEW that I could, and would, eat the whole batch if the situation arisen (my Father’s love of them also helped the situation along) XD.
So, I began to surf the net for various fruit mince and fruit mince pie recipes. I found that most recipes contained glace cherries or maraschino cherries neither of which suits my palate. So, I decided to omit those along with the most of the alcohol (I reduced one cup of brandy, to 1/4 cup of crème sherry) that was used in the mince, and some of the nutmeg (which I find too strong of a spice) and all spice (in which I don’t find the smell too pleasant). I also removed the mixed peel. I know that a lot of people feel that it is the ‘heart and soul’ of Christmas puddings but I honestly can’t stand the taste. I had read that some recipes that use nuts, which I’m against as who likes pies with dodgy crunchy fillings? No thank you!
So, I made the mince pie filling a day in advance. I know that your suppose to leave it in a sterilized jar so it has time to marinate, but Christmas was advancing fast, and I had a turkey to roast, a gingerbread house to bake and potatoes to peel. Coincidently, my grandmother (who I got the recipe for plum duff off) came around to my house without arranging, so she caught me just completing the fruit mince. Eager to get her opinion, I was waiting for the opportunity to ask her to taste it, when my Father came home early from work (around lunch time). I asked him to sample the mince, as I feel his love of the homey Christmas pies has rubbed off on me. He was delighted at the taste and smell (keeping in mind that I needed to let it stand overnight to marinate the flavours). He actually went back for a second spoonful!
Just before her departure she tasted the mince, but she seemed to disapprove of the taste as she likes a strong taste of alcohol, whilst I prefer a subtle taste. So that made me feel a little less confident.
The next day I cracked out the food processor, and dropped in the ingredients for the pastry in. I was surprised at how well it turned out, as I know that pastries can be very difficult to make. It was very malleable and wasn’t to dry or to wet. I did taste the pastry before cooking it, and it wasn’t that sweet, which concerned me as I recall Christmas pies being some what sweet and melt in your mouth. However, I lined one and a half muffin tins with the pastry and filled each with the delicious fruit mince, and topped each one with another round of pastry. Looking at the bowl of mince I realized that the mince to pastry ratio was not quite right, and I needed to make more pastry! I ended up making around 25 pies, all of which smelled delicious. The problem I found though, was when removing the lovely pies, they would crumble before my eyes. Having being a labour of my love, I was extremely disappointed in how the turned out, as many had arcs missing and the bases were falling apart. Some had turned to an almost rubble and couldn’t be saved, which knocked the number of Christmas pies back to around 18. Those crumbled pies did not go to waste, and made my dinner for that evening. I made my family (Mother, Father and Sister) test some each, and found I almost had to hid the plate of destroyed pies from my father so that the rest of the family could sample them. I split the batch in two, knowing we couldn’t get through 20 pies for Christmas and stored them in the freezer. This means that when ever I feel like a splash of Christmas, it is just a 10 minute bake in the oven!



Next time I make the pies, i’ll double the batch of pastry, and spend a lot more time oiling the muffin tins and allowing the pies to rest for a good 10 minutes before removal!







Here is the recipe I used, and I HAVE doubled the pastry recipe:

Ingredients
• 250g raisins
• 250g sultanas
• 250g currants
• 65g mixed peel
• 125g butter, softened
• 250g peeled and finely chopped granny smith apples
• 250g brown sugar
• grated rind of ½ lemon
• grated rind of ½ orange
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch each of nutmeg and allspice
• 1 cup (250ml) brandy

Pastry
• 250g self raising flour
• 220g plain flour
• 250g butter
• 4 Tablespoons icing sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 6 tablespoons cold water
Preparation method
1. Make sure all ingredients are finely chopped to around the same sized pieces. In a large bowl, mix all the fruit, chopped apples, butter, rind and spices together till well combined. Dissolve the sugar in the brandy and pour it over the mixture.
2. Cover and let stand overnight.
3. The next day stir the mixture again then place in clean dry jars for at least a month before using.
4. To make the pastry:sift the flours and then either rub in the butter or combine in a food processor. Add the sifted icing sugar and then stir in the egg yolk and water and mix it all to a dough. Work into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and then put in the fridge for an hour.
5. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and grease a 12 hole muffin tin. Use the egg white to glaze each pie before placing in the oven



~Caker~

Buffets and Deep Fried Sushi

In my small city I call home, we have the privilege of housing one, yes one, buffet. It consists of five main sections. The first section consists of two large vats with filled with soup (flavours change every few days, but it is usually pumpkin, leek and potato, or minestrone), a large basket filled with crusty bread rolls (butter and jam) crotons, and some boiled white rice. Although the pumpkin soup can be magical, I found a couple of times that the soup has been rather thin. Being a buffet in such a small city, I realise they must struggle to make a profit, but at least they could keep the soup thick.

The next section of the buffet is rather small; it too, has two large vats. One is filled with a beany concoction, and the other is rather thin tomato mince sauce. This accompanies the nachos and spaghetti, which are situated right next to each vat. This section also has a bowl of mysterious grated cheese.

The next section is much larger than the last, and it is filled with salads. They do have variety with different flavoured pasta, cous cous, vegetable and rice salads, but I find that most are covered thickly in sauces and dressings, which end up taking the flavour away from the actual ingredients. This is a bit of a let down, as well as a weight gaining exercise. The section also contains a small spread of seasonal fruit, and a bowl of canned pineapple pieces. The salad section also has sushi, but it is only vegetarian. It does taste great, and I always find myself tucking into a piece or two when scanning the bowls of salads in which I will later indulge.

The second last section contains hot food. It is about the same size ad the salad section, but contains triple the calories. This section is packed full of greasy (but crunchy) chips that have been drowned in salt. It has fried chicken wings (which are extremely awkward to eat, so it’s something you would not eat if you are trying to show class. But then, why would you be at a buffet if you wanted to show class? Moving around the hot plates, you find some sort of sausage casserole, mashed potato which looks like it comes out of a packet, some fried rice which lacks genuine flavour, greasy fried fish, some shrimp slices and *drum roll please* FRIED SUSHI!
This makes this restaurant go from a C grade to a B grade in my books. I was very sceptical when I tried my first piece as sushi, too me, is suppose to be served cold filled with fresh vegetables and fresh fish. However, I was remarkably surprised at the taste, and with the compliment of the sweet chilli sauce. This combination blew me away. Every time I go there, I enforce (whoever I’m with) to grab at least one piece. Its crunchy exterior contrasts with the much softer innards. Delicious

The last section, which is shunted away to the far wall, is desserts. This is seemingly basic; there is a heated tray of apple crumble in which seems to have gotten itself a name. Though I find that the chucky apples don’t make the dessert successful, and the crumble to apple ratio is in the crumbles favour, which is disappointing. The next dessert item is a bowl of raspberry jelly (this flavour never changes and as I’m not a fan of jelly, I’ve never tried this), followed by a bowl of overly whipped cream. This is proceeded by a generous plate of cake (the flavour various between chocolate or carrot). Either way, I always give myself a generous helping of. (I have been known to full a dinner plate with the cake, and also, to take some home in a napkin Shhh!) The last, and most important part to any dessert, is ice-cream. They have an awesome soft-serve ice cream machine, with has compliments of ice-cream cones, sprinkles, chocolate chips and sauces (various between chocolate, caramel and strawberry). This has been the soul of many magical creations, and many hours of fun.

One thing I love about buffets is that you can experiment with flavours and ideas. (E.g. making an ice-cream sundae with gherkin, or olives XD) It also means that you can create some pretty wicked fear factors as well (all of which I have won!) My sister once gave me a piece of fried fish, with chilli sauce, ice-cream, chocolate sauce and a drizzle of pumpkin soup. Lets just say, I took her 2 dollars with much pride hehe.
I gave my mother the idea once to create a banana split, and the look on her face made me think I just solved world hunger (well, perhaps for her anyway hehe). It sucks that we only have one buffet in my small city that I call home, but at least we have one.


(This is a picture i found off the net, and not one I took myself)

Doughnuts

So, Christmas came and went, and my boyfriend gave me a Doughnut maker. Epic Win!
I was ready to jump at the opportunity to use it, so when New Years came round, and I was invited to a party, I knew it was time to get that 'new' smell off the doughnut maker, and replace it with the sweet, sweet smell of doughnuts.
My plan was to make various different flavours of doughnuts. Some would be coated in sugar and cinnamon (a classic doughnut), others would be iced and the last flavour would be chocolate. I tried to make an even number of each flavour, but I think chocolate won by 7 doughnuts (not that i'm bias or anything) hehe.

I followed the recipe that was given to me with the maker, and found that the suggestion of 1Tbsp of batter to each doughnut hole was too much, instead, I ended up using 2tsps. I made way more than what the recipe said it would make. (It said a mere 24, but I think it was more like 42) .
I had high hopes for the doughnuts. I hoped they would have the proper shape, a certain taste, and more importantly, a certain look. (Im going to blaim it on the fact, that I am an amature at doughnut making, and for my first attempt, they weren't a bad batch really)

I found that the doughnut batter was rather runny, which meant that the amount of batter I used would over flow, and the part that was there to make the centre would be COVERED in batter, which meant the classic doughnut shape was more a round ball, with a small indent in the centre. =(
Fortunately, I used the runt looking doughnuts to cover in sugar and cinnamon. I realised within my first attempt that I needed to brush the doughnuts in butter, before dipping them in the sugar and cinnamon mixture otherwise no sugar would stick.

I made rather alot of plain ones, and then thought I should upgrade some of them to sugar and cinnamon. I then added the cocoa to the batter, and made about 18 chocolate doughnuts. Yum!
Some of the doughnuts were rather chewy, and not as I had hoped. I used icing to cover up any mistakes, which I think worked well as a disguse.

Next time when I make the doughnuts, I shall focus more on the amount of batter I add, so I can get a batch of doughnuts, instead of the chewy doughnut batter balls, smoothered in icing. hehe




~Caker~

Ahh, TIRAMISU!!

With all the global recession occurring, and budgets being extremely tight, it’s hard to enjoy the delights of certain desserts as of their cost. I don't know about you, but where I live in New Zealand, food items, such as mascarpone are not only limited as of choice, but are on the pricey side. The 2 unspoken rules that I have with my Mother, is that I’m allowed to cook/bake/create, with her permission and as long as the ingredients aren't in short supply (e.g. we have it in the house) or, aren't too expensive. Unfortunately, Mascarpone is one of the 'expensive' ingredients. So, unless I found an alternative, I couldn't make the beloved dessert. Thankfully, my initiative kicked in, and I decided to just use whipped cream instead of the mascarpone.
That idea, equals WIN!

After making trifle (My sister and Father's favourite dessert, I personally don't see it myself) for Christmas, we had some left over sponge and cream. I really wanted to try Tiramisu, as of seeing it on the net on various other food blogs, and hearing about it through TV shows. So, I devised a plan, went online in search for a tiramisu recipe without mascarpone. As suspected, I found none that used ingredients I had in the house. (Sour cream and cream cheese where used, but I didn't have them in the fridge). So, I took it upon myself to just 'Go with the flow' and make a Tiramisu without using Cream Cheese or Mascarpone, but by using ordinary cream. I can’t say I know what texture and taste a proper Tiramisu is meant to have, but the ‘cream’ tiramisu was certainly delicious. The cream was light, and had a mousse like texture and the sponge was moistened with the coffee/boiling water, so it had similar texture to a trifle, but tasted of delicious chocolate and coffee!
My family didn’t complain about the taste, in fact my dad went back for seconds, and he doesn’t even like chocolate or coffee.


































Ingredients

2 Eggs
300ml Cream
250gm Sponge, cut into cubes
6tsp Sugar (3tsp per egg)
5 tsp Instant Coffee Powder
2tsp Icing Sugar
1 Cup Boiling Water
1/4 Cup Grated Chocolate, or Chocolate Chips etc.


Method

1. Whip the cream and then fold in 2tsp of icing sugar.
2. Separate the two eggs, then add the 6tsp of sugar to the egg yolk. Beat till yolk thickens and is whiter in colour.
3. Beat the egg whites till stiff peaks.
4. Spoon the yolk mixture, 1 Tbsp at a time, into the cream mixture. Fold in after each spoonful.
5. Add 2-3tsps of instant coffee (to taste), and the chocolate, folding in.
6. Fold in, spoon by spoon, the egg white into the cream mixture.
7. Mix the hot water and remaining coffee essence into a shallow dish, stirring till coffee essence is dissolved.
8. Dab the cut sponge in the coffee so it soaks up a little of the water and coffee.
9. Layer the sponge in a bowl, then top with the cream mixture, then more sponge, and then end on the cream.
10. Sprinkle with cocoa powder (or sweeter drinking chocolate) for a garnish.
11. Chill for 5 hours before serving.


~Caker~