DARING BAKERS CHALLENGE JULY - Swirl Ice-cream Cake

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.-


I always try to make these dishes when I have people coming over, to help us eat it. I had a whole plan in my head involving chocolate, cherry's and thick fudge sauce. As with all laid plans, everything went ary. So on the morning that the dessert was needed, I found myself, with no cocoa, or cream. So operation make-it-up-with-what-we-have-on-hand commenced. I ended up with an orange sponge roll, filled with mango sorbet, and topped with hibiscus and lychee zabaglione


Sponge Roll

6 medium sized eggs
1 Cup caster sugar /8 oz+ extra for rolling
6 tblsp of all purpose (plain) flour
2 tblsp of Orange juice
Zest of one orange
a little oil for brushing the pans

Pre heat the oven at 200 deg C /400 deg F approximately. Brush the baking pans ( 11 inches by 9 inches ) with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake.

In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds.

Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the juice.

Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans. Place a pan in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the centre is springy to the touch.

Spread baking paper on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it.
While still warm, turn the cake on to the paper and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.

Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the paper going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down.

Once cool open the roll and fill with cream or ice cream. Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge/freezer till needed, seam side down

Cinnamon Swirls

Something else I made with this bread mix. The mix smelt like dumplings, and was quite lovely to knead. I was surprised at how nice, the bread turned out. No odd smell or taste. Crusty on the outside and soft in the middle. Topped with a little sugar and cinnamon, it was addictive.

Mexican Scrolls

I trialled an organic gluten free bread mix, It's supposed to be a crusty loaf, and it did come out very crusty. However being the day before 'Shopping day' I was using up various bits of leftovers. So I smashed it out pizza style, topped with Chili-con-carne, a bit of salsa, and a little cheese. rolled it into a log and sliced. Bake at 200 for an hour. Yum.

Chocolate Fondue

A special treat for family movie night.


1/2 a cup of cream
200g of chocolate

Melt together in a bowl over a pot of bowling water. Transfer to a fondue pot. Light candle. Serve with your choice of things to dip. My favorites are, strawberry's, bananas and marshmallows.

Get sticky!

Nan's Nosh

Everyone has a dish their Mum/Nana/Female Matriarch figure made for them. Good or bad, it's a dish that we remember, and makes us feel like a kids again. For me it's these patties, made from leftover mashed potatoes and vegetables. My Mum would make these for us, telling us that her mother made them for her. As with most of these recipes, the amounts work on a little of this and a little of that, so just chuck stuff in a bowl.


Hash

2 cups mashed potatoes
1 cup peas and corn or any leftover meat and veg you have from last nights dinner, finely chopped.
4 eggs
salt and pepper
1/2 cup of grated cheese

Mix together in a bowl, until smooth-ish. Heat a non stick pan and spray with oil. Dollop the mixture into the pan and turn heat down to medium. Wait for bubbles to form on the surface, much the same as pancakes, then flip. Allow to cook for a further 2 minutes. Serve with some tomato sauce, and enjoy.

July 2010 Daring Cooks - Nut Butters

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

Here's my recipe using a nut butter. I was actually reading a vegan cookbook the other day that talked all about using nut butters, in desserts and as a cream substitute, much healthier . I think I will have to start, giving it a go.

Gado Gado

150g unsalted peanuts, dry-roasted in the oven until dark
2 tbs peanut oil
2 eschalots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp chilli paste or sambal oelek
2 tsp finely grated palm sugar (see note) or raw sugar, plus extra to taste
2 tbs tamarind concentrate (see note)
1 tbs lime juice
2 tsp shrimp paste (see note) or 4 anchovy fillets
270ml can coconut milk

Finely grind peanuts in a food processor. Heat oil in a deep frypan over medium-low heat. Add eschalots and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes until onion is soft. Stir in peanuts, chilli and shrimp pastes, sugar, tamarind, lime, coconut milk and 1 cup (250ml) water until well combined. Increase the heat to high and bring to the boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened. Adjust salt and sugar to taste.

Serve with various steamed and fresh vegetables, tofu and satays.

Quiche - it's low fat!

400g reduced fat shortcrust pastry
300ml light ricotta
300ml Philadelphia cream for cooking
3 egg whites
3 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups cooked spinach
1 White onion finely sliced
2/3 of a cup of cherry tomatoes sliced in half

Mold pastry too a 8inch tart pan and prick with a fork. Bake in an oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until just browned.

Layer spinach and onion in the bottom of the pastry shell. Beat together the eggs and white, beat in all remaining ingredients, except the tomatoes. Pour over spinach. Place the tomatoes on top.

Bake for 30 -40 minutes at 180. Serve hot or cold.

One Year Today

Strawberry Shortcake

Basic Vanilla Cake


1 cups self raising flour
90g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup of sugar
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons of milk

Preheat oven to 180. Line eight muffin pan holes with paper cases. Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs, beat until thick and glossy. Sift in flour and add milk. Beat until smooth and creamy.

Pour into a greased lined 6 inch round cake tin. Bake for 20-30 minutes on 170c
Allow to cool before turning out and cooling completely.

Cut through the middle to create two layers, set aside.

Filling

2 teaspoons icing sugar
300ml whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip together until thick and creamy

2 Punnets of strawberry's finely sliced
4 tablespoons of strawberry jam

Spread strawberry jam on each cake layer, slather with cream and top with strawberry's. Place one layer of cake on the other.

Serve and enjoy the classic combination.

Meat and Vegetable Pie

Ingredients (serves 4)

Plain flour, to dust
375g block frozen puff pastry, thawed (Pampas brand)
Melted butter, to grease
2 (25 x 25cm) sheets ready-rolled frozen shortcrust pastry, thawed (Pampas brand)
1 egg, lightly whisked

Beef filling
700g lean beef blade steak, cut into 3cm cubes
2 tbs plain flour
60ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
1 brown onion, roughly chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled, roughly chopped
1 large celery stick, thickly sliced
310ml (1 1/4 cups) good-quality beef stock
2 tbs finely chopped fresh curly parsley
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly cracked black pepper


Method
To make beef filling, place beef in a medium bowl, add flour and toss to coat. Heat 2 tbs of oil in a medium heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook, using a wooden spoon to stir often, for 6 minutes or until light brown. Transfer to a medium heatproof bowl. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining oil to pan. Add onion, carrots and celery, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Return beef to pan with stock, parsley, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour or until beef is tender. Increase heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for a further 10-15 minutes or until sauce is a thick gravy. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Transfer beef filling to a medium heatproof bowl and set aside for 10 minutes. Cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to partially cool.

Meanwhile, line a tray with non-stick baking paper. Lightly flour a clean surface and use a rolling pin to roll out puff pastry, rotating occasionally, to a 30cm square 3-4mm thick. Invert a shallow 25cm (top measurement) pie plate on pastry and use a sharp knife to cut pastry 2mm from edge of plate. (Do not drag - the pastry layers may stick together and the edge won't puff into separate crisp layers in the oven.) Lift pastry onto lined tray, cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge until required.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Brush a pie plate with melted butter to grease. Place shortcrust pastry sheets on a clean surface and cut 1 sheet in half. Brush 1 edge of whole sheet with water and lay a half sheet along this edge, overlapping by 1cm. Press to join and smooth out join. Repeat process on an adjacent edge of whole sheet, overlapping ends of half-sheets as well. Gently lift pastry onto greased plate and ease into plate to line. Smooth pastry and press around top rim of plate. Hold plate and rotate while using a small sharp knife at a 45° angle to cut away excess pastry.
Use a fork to prick pastry base evenly about 25 times. Place in fridge for 15 minutes to rest (to help reduce shrinkage during cooking). Blind-bake the pie base before adding filling to ensure it is well cooked and crisp. To do this, place a 30cm square of non-stick baking paper or foil over the pastry and top evenly with about 1 cup of dried beans or rice to stop the pastry from bubbling. Place pie plate on a baking tray and cook in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Carefully remove paper or foil and beans or rice (see note) and bake for a further 8-10 minutes or until golden. Transfer the pie plate to a wire rack and, if necessary, use a clean tea towel to carefully pat down any pastry that has puffed during cooking. Set aside for 15 minutes to cool. Increase oven temperature to 220°C.

Spread cooled filling evenly into base. Remove puff pastry from fridge. Use a pastry brush to lightly brush pie edge with a little cold water. Place puff pastry on top of pie and gently press edges together to seal. (Do not press the outer edge, or it will not puff well during cooking.)
Use a small sharp knife to cut a 4cm cross in pastry centre to allow steam to escape during cooking. Lightly brush top with whisked egg.Place pie on baking tray and bake in oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 190°C and cook for a further 20-25 minutes or until well puffed, golden and heated through. If necessary, shield areas of pastry top and edges browning faster than others with pieces of foil. Serve immediately.


Source
Good Taste - July 2001, Page 48
Recipe by Anna Phillips