If you fancy a sugar hangover, look no further. This fudge is mouth-suckingly sweet and all the better for it. A firm Kiwi favourite, it is dense and rich, comprised largely of sugar, sweetened condensed milk and golden syrup. I can’t get to the bottom …
I’m finding myself with a lot of tinned goods recently, not unlike many people in our little shaky isles in the wake of our 7.8 earthquake. It pays to be prepared. I’ve heard the comment more than once that tinned pears are the least exciting …
Toddlers and sugar, a match made in heaven? Probably not for their parents, but when it’s your niece’s third birthday party and you said you’d make biscuits, it’s hardly time to skimp on the sugar.
I was inspired to make these little numbers by one of New Zealand’s favourite cookie treats…the Hundreds and Thousands biscuit. The name is pretty self-evident, although perhaps not if you hail from elsewhere in the world outside of New Zealand. ‘Hundreds and Thousands’ is our antipodean name for the rainbow sprinkles on top of these cookies, but other terms include nonpareils and jimmies.
I can’t find must history about this biscuit itself, but there are a few stories behind the origins of Hundreds and Thousands. Some claim they were invented in a New York candy factory in the 1930s, whilst others say that they come from Parisian bakers.
Whatever the origin, it can’t be denied that a liberal sprinkling of on a pink-iced vanilla cookie is an appropriate party treat. I used Donna Hay’s vanilla snaps recipe for the base and the rest was pretty simple.
Vanilla biscuits:
Icing:
Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy. And the vanilla extract and egg yolk and beat again.
Finally add the flour and beat until a dough forms. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface until 3mm thick.
Cut rounds or shapes from the dough and place on baking-paper lined trays. Bake until just golden – this took ten minutes in my oven.
Cool on racks. Make the icing by adding the icing sugar to the butter, a drop of colouring and strawberry essence and beating well, using a little hot water to soften as needed. When cold, ice with pink icing and sprinkle liberally with hundreds and thousands.
Catching up is an excellent excuse for eating. I’ve been away having numerous catch-ups and visiting some favourite old haunts. London is a favourite old haunt and feels a little like a second home, in no small part because of the many fabulous people living …
Steamed pudding is like a sweet, jammy hug in a bowl. I love it. It’s a special favourite in our little country. I was recently introduced to a New Zealand specialty steamed pudding which is the queen of both steamed puddings and now of my heart…burnt …
Oh, my mouth waters at the merest mention of potstickers! Delicious, plump little morsels, steaming hot and so satisfying. Their real name is Jiaozi, particularly popular during Chinese New Year. In my house, we don’t wait for New Year. They are popular year-round.
I’ve been an enthusiastic consumer for many years now, but a recent convert to making my own. I shied away from DIY potstickers, convinced they would be the kind of fiddly, tricky enterprise that leaves the cook hot, bothered, grumpy and worst of all, without a meal at the end of it.
But trust me, they are quite simple and so rewarding. I find making potstickers pleasantly meditative once I get into the swing of it, letting my thoughts wander while I shape and pinch the little parcels.
You will need:
For the dipping sauce:
Lightly cook the cabbage in boiling water, just until it is softened, so that it is not too aggressive in the final product. Drain and place in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well, using your hands if you’re not too squeamish about it.
Hold a potsticker skin in your palm. Dip your finger in water and run around the edges of the skin. Add one teaspoon of beef mixture to the top half of the skin and fold the other half over it, pressing the edges together.
There is a special way to crimp the edges so they look pretty – this fabulous video does a fantastic job of explaining the whole process; if you want to skip to the crimping technique, it’s 5.05 minutes in.
Once they are ready to cook, heat a little vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan. And please, do use non-stick. I have learned this the hard way. There is nothing worse than potstickers who take their name far too literally, so well and truly stuck you can’t eat them.
Place the potstickers into the pan and leave for a minute or two, until they are just slightly browned on the bottom. Pour 150 mls warm water into the pan, down the side. Put a lid of the saucepan and let the potstickers steam until cooked, about six minutes. Take the lid off and let the bottoms crisp up for about a minute.
Combine the dipping sauce ingredients and serve with rice and steamed greens.
I was the happy competitor in a baking competition recently. I say ‘happy’ because how could you ever not be happy when you have a genuine excuse to make sweet delicious treats several times over? And the competition was for a great cause too…Good Bitches …
Savoury cheesy beery sauce on toast, that is my delicious experience with Welsh Rarebit to date. And my, this lovely little cheese-on-toast treat is scrumptious.
Hurrah, apples are in season again! This means I can continue my alphabetical journey through New Zealand’s kitchen bible, the Edmonds Cook Book, where I am still languishing somewhat in the apple section of the A recipes.
I’m not going to lie, the idea of making an apple pie did give me a little bit of a start. It’s the making-pastry-from-scratch thing, you see. As a teenager I would blithely tackle this task, and successfully so. A couple of pastry let-downs (or stuck-downs, more accurately) as a young adult, and my confidence was dented.
The apples we are instructed to use for this pie are Granny Smiths. Mouth-puckeringly tart, they are not my first choice for eating alone but they are lovely in this pie. And they have a rather awesome history; cultivated by chance by one Maria Ann (Granny) Smith from a seedling on her property in Tasmania in 1868.
To make this pie you will need:
Heat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
I started with the pastry, referring to Edmond’s Sweet Shortcrust Pastry recipe. This requires sifting 1 cup plain flour into a bowl and then cutting in 75 grams of butter with a knife, until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. To this, still following instructions, I stirred in 1/4 cup of sugar, an egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water, then mixed to a stiff dough and chilled for half an hour.
I used this time to get the filling ready – it’s really very simple, the apples, 1/2 cup of sugar, butter, flour and ground cloves are all mixed together.
And now, the pastry (cue deep breath in!). Roll the pastry out so that it is slightly larger than the pie dish you are using. The goal is to line the dish sides and top the pie with pastry. So, you need to cut two long strips for the pie sides. As depicted, this went pretty well.
Removing the pastry for the topping from the bench was slightly less successful, hence some strategically placed whipped cream in the photos. Press the pastry strips around the pie dish sides. Spoon the apple filling into the dish and then top with the rest of the pastry, trimming the sides. Brush with water and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake the pie for 25 minutes. If the apples are not quite done after this time, turn the oven down to 180 degrees celsius and bake until the apples are tender. For me, this took and extra five minutes.
I know, I know, vegetables and chocolate. My reflex reaction is ‘blurgh’ too. But bear with me, these brownies are good, contain lots of dark chocolate and are a handy way to use up beetroot if you find yourself needing to do so. Not that I often …