Blueberry Bread

My house is full of fruit at the moment, so I'm probably gonna post a whole lot of fruity cakes and slices in the next few days.

Yesterday I made the blueberry bread from Buns In My Oven. It was really good - the oats gave it some flavour and made it nice and chewy. I think this recipe would be really good as muffins.

Blueberry bread

from Buns In My Oven

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup canola oil

2 large eggs

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup rolled oats

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Heat oven to 175°C and grease the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch loaf pan.

In the bowl of your mixer, add sugar, milk, applesauce, oil, and eggs. Mix well. Mix in the remaining ingredients except for the blueberries and mix until combined. Fold in the blueberries.

Pour in the loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

Crêpes with Crème Pâtissière and Strawberries

Crêpes were definitely one of my favourite breakfasts growing up. My brother loved thick, bready flapjacks or pancakes but I always preferred thin crêpes, which were fun to roll up and (in my opinion) easier to eat. They are also really versatile and there are a huge variety of toppings you can use - I usually covered them in jam, maple syrup or lemon juice and sugar.

This time, I decided to do something more complicated - I found a lovely recipe for crêpes with crème pâtissière and strawberry salad on the MasterChef website and replaced their crêpe recipe with my favourite Margaret Fulton one. The custard took a while to thicken, so I added a bit more potato flour (substitute for cornflour) and it turned out much better.

The combination were delicious, and I'll defintely make this again - maybe as a dessert when we have guests over.

Basic crêpes

1 1/4 cups flour

pinch salt

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups milk

1 tbs brandy (optional)

2 tsp butter

Sift flour and salk into a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add eggs and milk. Using a wooden spoon, mix well, drawing in flour from sides. Beat well, then stir in brandy and metled butter. Cover and stand 1 hour. Sieve as the batter needs to be free of lumps.

To make crêpes, heat a little butter in a crêpe pan (read: frying pan) and pour off excess. Use a jug and pour about 1 tbs (I use a whole ladleful) batter into an 18cm (7 in) pan. Rotate pan quickly to coat bottom thinly and evenly, then pour off excess batter. Heat gently and when small bubbles appear (after 1 minute) use a spatula to flip crêpe over. Cook for 1 minute on other side. Makes 20-24 (or if you're me, 10-12).

Crème pâtissière

from MasterChef website

350mls milk
1 vanilla bean, split
5 egg yolks
½ cup caster sugar
2 tsp cornflour

Pour the milk into a saucepan, add the vanilla bean, place over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Remove from heat. Place the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl, whisk until rich and pale. Add cornflour and whisk until combined.

Pour half of the hot milk into the egg mixture and continue to whisk until smooth. Add to the remaining milk in the saucepan and continue to whisk for 3-6 minutes over a low heat.

Strain through a sieve into a clean saucepan, place over low heat and continue to cook until a thick. Cover and set aside to cool.

Strawberry Salad

from MasterChef website 

1 punnet strawberries, hulled
6 basil leaves, julienned (I didn't have any basil so I skipped it)
3 tbs icing sugar
¼ lemon, juiced

Combine the strawberries, basil, icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl. Cover and set aside in the fridge.

To serve, place a crepe on a clean flat surface. Using a palate knife spread a little crème patisserie onto crepe and roll to form a cigar shape. Place a spoonful of the strawberry salad in the centre of a plate and top with a crepe, cross with another crepe and spoon over more strawberry salad to serve.

Chocolate Chip Meringues

I've been eyeing off this recipe for a while but didn't have any chocolate in the house that lasted long enough for me to make it into something. Yesterday, I was searching through the pantry for cornflour and discovered a tiny 110g packet of Cadbury Dream. I searched for white chocolate recipes but I found none that I had the supplies for. I then saw the egg whites in the fridge leftover from yesterday's crème brûlée. Inspired, I found the chocolate chip meringue recipe on smittenkitchen.com and got to work.

Mmm...vanilla flavoured egg white.

These were incredibly simple to make, but tasted fantastic. They were lovely and marshmallowy hot (with the chocolate melted), and they were more crispy and chewy when they had cooled down.

Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies 

from smittenkitchen.com 

2 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar (I used lemon juice instead)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup regular or superfine sugar (I used a bit more than 1/2 a cup)
6 ounces chocolate chips, miniature chips or finely diced semi or bittersweet chocolate (I used white chocolate)
1/4 chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted first is even tastier (I omitted this)

Preheat oven to 150°C.

Beat egg whites until foamy. Add salt, cream of tartar and vanilla, and beat mixture again until it holds soft peaks. Add the sugar, gradually, beating the batter until it is stiff. Fold in the nuts and chocolate chips. Spoon batter onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake for 25 minutes. Undersides of cookies should be golden or lightly tanned.

Note: There are two approaches to baking meringues. This shorter cooking time at a higher temperature yields a cookie with a crackly, crumbly exterior and an almost hollow center. A more traditional approach is a longer baking time, 200 degrees (95 degrees Celsius) for 1.5 to 2 hours. Take the longer-baked version out when they are slightly golden and firm to the touch. They will be more soft and fluffy, like miniature pavlovas.

Crème Brûlée

We have looooads of eggs in the house at the moment. I have a couple of recipes for meringues I'd like to make and to use the yolks I thought I'd try making crème brûlée.

I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I'd never made custard from scratch on the stove before, so I didn't really know how thick or thin it should be, and what it should look like. It hadn't thickened much, but I eventually just put it in ramekins anyway, chucked it in the fridge and hoped for the best.

It probably shouldn't be doing this...

It turned out much better than I expected it to be. The custard wasn't quite as smooth as it could've been (overcooked?) but it was still fine. For the toffee glaze, I heard you could either use a blow torch or a grill. I decided to try both. I found more success with the grill, and it was easier anyway.The fat from the cream rose to the top a bit when serving...I didn't really know what to do about that.

Crème Brûlée

from Margaret Fulton's Encyclopedia of Food & Cookery

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

4 large or 5 small egg yolks

1 tsp cornflour

2 cups cream

1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Directions:

Beat sugar into egg yolks gradually and continue to beat for 2-3 minutes until pale yellow. Beat in cornflour, then gradually stir in milk, scalded with vanilla bean.

Pour mixture into top part of double saucepan, place over hot water and stir slowly and continuously until custard thickens sufficiently to coat back of spoon. Keep custard well under simmering point (...I think this is where I stuffed up). Remove from heat and stir for 1-2 minutes to cool slightly. Strain. Pour into 4 individual or 1 larger serving dish and chill well.

Just before serving, stand custard in shallow baking dish to keep custard chilled. Sprinkle white or brown sugar in a 3 mm (1/8 in) layer over top and put under preheated grill until sugar melts and forms a toffee glaze. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Lime Yoghurt Cake with Blackberry Sauce

I love the summer holidays. Not only is the weather warm, but there's heaps of free time to bake, sew or catch up with friends. So, I thought that now would also be a good chance to start up a cooking blog. When school starts I'll probably be posting a lot less, but hopefully I'll find time every couple of weeks or so.

I still had a few limes left over from a lemon-lime tart, so I thought to put them to good use by making them into something. I searched through a few blogs for inspiration, eventually deciding on a lime yoghurt cake from smittenkitchen.com.

I'd never made a yoghurt cake before, so I was a bit sceptical of how it would turn out, but it was definitely successful. The yoghurt kept the cake lovely and moist and the texture was soft and smooth. It was also great to finally use up that tub of greek yoghurt that had been sitting in my fridge. If I were to make it again I'd probably use a bit more lime and less yoghurt for a more intense flavour.

Lime Yogurt Cake with Blackberry Sauce

from smittenkitchen.com

Ingredients:
Cake
1 cup whole milk plain unsweetened yoghurt (it doesn't really matter what kind, I used Greek yoghurt)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar
zest of one lime
1/4 cup lime juice
2 eggs
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt

Blackberry Sauce
350g fresh blackberries (or if using frozen, start with half the water)
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Directions:

Cake
Preheat the oven to 175°C. Grease the sides of a 9-inch round cake pan or springform pan with oil and line the bottom with parchment paper if the pan is not springform.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, oil, sugar, lime zest and juice. Add the eggs one by one, whisking well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together, right over your yoghurt batter. Stir with a spoon until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let stand for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the pan to loosen. If you’re using the springform pan, unclasp the sides. Otherwise, flip the cake onto a plate and flip it back on the rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Sauce:
Combine blackberries, water, sugar and lime juice in blender or food processor. Purée until very smooth, then press through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Cover and refrigerate until cold.