The Kitchen Reader

Last month I stumbled across (I say stumbled but it was on Cakelaw's blog which I visit frequently) The Kitchen Readers, an online group reading their way through foodie related books. As it combines two of my great loves ie. food and books, I decided to join at once!

Unfortunately I don't have a book to review this month. Literally. Neither of the next few month's selections are available in our library system or indeed any b0okshop in the country (or so it seems) so I resorted to buying online and they haven't arrived yet.

My apologies to Jennifer and the other members!

Triple Treat Chocolate Chip Cookies

After the hot weather we've had lately, it was a relief that yesterday was grey, misty and cool. The kind of day that is perfect for curling up with a good book, a hot drink and something sweet to nibble on.

Which brings me to these.

There is much debate on what consitutes the 'perfect' chocolate chip cookie but I say, to each their own. If your preference is for thin, crunchy or chewy these are not for you. Or they may just convert you!

Triple Treat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from 'Chocolate Chip Cookies' on p16 of Modern Classics Number 2 by Donna Hay

125g butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1ts vanilla extract
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 cups plain flour
1 ts baking powder
100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
100g white chocolate, roughly chopped
2/3 cup roasted salted peanuts

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until thick and smooth. Add the eggs and beat to combine. Using a spatula, fold through the flour and baking powder until just barely combined. Add the chocolate and nuts and fold through.

Roll dessertspoonfuls of mixture into balls and place on prepared trays allowing room for each cookie to spread.

Bake at 180 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, or until puffed and lightly golden. They will still be very soft. Remove from oven and allow to rest for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Cherry-Fudge Brownie Torte

This week's TWD selection was another decadent delight!

April of Short & Rose chose Dorie's Cherry-Fudge Brownie Torte and really the name says it all don't you think? Cherry, fudge, brownie, torte. I'm there!

I made only minor changes to the recipe, using dried cranberries instead of cherries, black cherry jam instead of cherry preserves and leaving out the kirsch (I just used all water instead and this really allowed the flavour of the fruits to shine through).

My topping was not even remotely pourable - it somehow managed to achieve to achieve the consistency of a baked New York cheesecake. Fluffy and delicious but not at all mousse-like!

I was all set to do the chevron pattern on the top so I still piped the jam on top.

The taste test ...


I think this would have to be in my top 5 TWD recipes so far! Exactly like a black forest cake but in brownie form and with (an unintentional) cheesecake topping. And of course a lot easier to make. Absolutely delicious.

The tartness of the fruit cut through the richness but I was happy to be able to give most of it away. My MIL was having a working bee on Sunday to give her backyard a makeover. N and I couldn't make it so I sent the torte down to feed the hungry horde. It apparently went down really well and there was none left over, that's always a good sign!

I will definitely be making this again, perhaps for Christmas. Thanks April! You can find the recipe on her blog.

Daring Bakers October - Macarons

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Oooh boy, this month's DB challenge was a doozey! For the first time since I joined the Daring Bakers over a year ago I don't really have a finished product to blog about.

So many bloggers seem to have a macaron obsession that I was really keen to try them myself. After all, I'm not a complete novice now. How hard could they be?

Attempt #1 - I followed the DB recipe for a plain macaron. I weighed and measured everything carefully, aged the egg whites and ended up with these ...

Now I know they're not terrible but they're also not macarons. I didn't bother filling them since I had to scrape them off the baking paper (they were stuck like superglue) and I naievly assumed my next lot would be better. Ha!

Attempt #2 - I tried a different recipe (chocolate flavour) which called for them to be rested on the bench for an hour before baking. This time I didn't even make it to the baking part. Once I folded in the dry ingredients my mix turned almost solid. I could have rolled the dough into balls it was so stiff and dry. It just seemed like the ratio of eggwhites to dry ingredients was completely off. It all went straight in the bin.

Attempt #3 - Same recipe as attempt #2 but this time I added only half the amount of dry ingredients (I stopped as soon as the consistency seemed right).

Dry ingredients weighed, blitzed in the food processor and seived

Aged eggwhites at room temperature whipped with sugar until thick and glossy

Piped onto trays and hoping the peaks will soften

After 1 hour - nope, they look exactly the same

After 15 minutes at 150 deg C

Definitely not right

The best 2, sandwiched together with rosella jam

I am completely in awe of everyone else who made these successfully. Some of the results were absolutely stunning! But for me it was stressful, frustrating and a waste of time as I don't feel any closer to mastering them. I can't even learn from my mistakes because I have no idea what I did wrong.

As much as it pains me to say it, the macarons won. Final score Macarons 3: Susan 0.

Bring on November!

Changes

It's time for a change around here. What do you think of the new header?

Please bear with me over the coming weeks as I tweak the blog. I have zero skills in web design and am flying blind here. Help and comments greatly appreciated!