Monday 21 November 2011

CHOCOLATE SELF SAUCING PUDDING - SO EASY TO MAKE!

Okay, I know this is a naughty recipe but it is one that I need to share.  It is a recipe that I have been making for about 20 years now.  I haven't met anyone that has tried it and hasn't liked it,,, (well except for my  chocolate hating son that is lol).



This is quite a rich chocolate recipe and you certainly don't need a huge serve.  I usually serve up one big spoonful per person with a generous scoop of icecream.  The icecream tones down the richness of it and makes it oh so good!!!

Come on, give it a go, just once, it is pretty cheap to make and you don't even need eggs which is perfect if you are like me and frequently run out lol.  Sometimes I even just mix it straight in the casserole dish it is going to bake in (as I did this time), I didn't bother to grease the dish, I just threw the ingredients in and mixed them up.  Some days I have seen enough dishes and I like to cheat and cut down as much as humanly possible!

This recipe was  one I ripped out of a "That's Life" magazine many moons ago.  It was submitted by a Victorian lady by the name of Lauren Handcock, she mentioned she had made it countless times and I can proudly say that I have too.  It is so fast and simple to whip up and can easily be doubled to cater for extras.





CHOCOLATE SELF SAUCING PUDDING

PUDDING
60 grams Butter
1/2 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
3/4 cup Castor Sugar
1 cup Self Raising Flour
1/4 cup Cocoa

SAUCE
2 tablespoons Cocoa
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 cups Hot Water

Preheat oven to a 180 degrees.
Lightly grease a shallow 4 cup casserole dish with butter (I have been known to skip this and it hasn't caused any problems :-)   )
Heat the butter and milk over a low heat.
Stir until the butter melts, add the Vanilla and mix well.


Sift the Sugar, Flour and Cocoa into a bowl.


Add the butter/milk mixture and beat well with a wooden spoon.
Pour mixture into prepared dish.
Sprinkle cocoa and brown sugar over the surface of the mixture.


Carefully pour the hot water over the top.


Bake for 40-45 minutes in the preheated oven.  (If you double the mixture as I have here, add an extra 15-20 minutes cooking time)  (Also if you double the mixture use a bigger casserole dish than I did lol,,,, mine made a bit of a mess in the oven whoops!,,,,I don't usually double the mix when I make it and I forgot to use the larger dish!!!!)


Instead of icecream, it also tastes great if you sprinkle the pudding with a little icing sugar and accompany it with a dollop of cream topped with a light sprinkle of cinnamon,,,,,YUM!

The single recipe will easily serve 4 people a fairly large serving.  I doubled the recipe this time when I made it as I wanted left overs but out of this casserole dish I have 9 serves of the size you see with the icecream.

Friday 18 November 2011

BAKED CUSTARD CREAM



 
This recipe intrigued me with its name.  I love custard, creamy smooth custard, oh yum!!!  Baked custards always remind me of my Mum's Baked Custard and her Bread and Butter Puddings.  Sadly I don't have her recipe and every time I have attempted to make a Baked Custard it just never works out.  That is probably why I had never up to this point attempted this recipe.  Years of failures took away my confidence.

Well finally, I bit the bullet and gave this recipe a go, and I have to say, it is pretty yummy.  While it doesn't have the same sweetness as my Dear Old Mum's custard, it is smooth, oh so smooth!  It actually worked, I just couldn't believe it!  It is a bit more work than a normal baked custard but the fact that it worked made it a winner lol.





I had a little bit left in the big bowl and I couldn't resist finishing it off when the kids were at school the next day (No the "little bit left" isn't what you see pictured in the white bowl lol, it truly was only a spoonful or so left in the bowl when I attacked it :-)    ). 
So if you like really smooth custard that isn't sickly sweet, give this recipe a go.  The egg white gives it a slight crustiness on top and just adds another texture to it.





30 grams Butter
3 tablespoons Castor Sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon Plain Flour
1 tablespoon Self Raising Flour
2 cups Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add sifted flours, combine well.
Put milk in a small saucepan, stir over low heat until the milk reaches simmering point.
Remove the milk from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
Gradually beat the milk into the creamed butter/sugar mixture, beating all the time, mix well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites into the custard mixture.
Pour the custard into a lightly greased ovenproof dish.
Place into a large baking dish with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the dish containing the custard.
Bake in moderate oven for approximately 50-60 minutes or until the custard is firm

Serves 4-6

Wednesday 9 November 2011

CARROT AND PINEAPPLE CAKE - THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!!!



Okay,,,,I think I have found a rival cake for my Anzac Cake.  I tried this cake on the weekend and it is simply yummo!!!  The best part about it is that even though I have a few kids that hate carrots and a couple that absolutely despise pineapple,,,,,,they ALL agreed tht this cake is beautiful!!!!

This mix made enough mixture for 2 log tins and 6 cupcake sized muffins.  The kids have been having a slice in their lunchboxes all week and they have already said that they want me to make another one for next week  (but now I am on a carrot cake roll and next week I want to try another recipe lol!!)





CARROT AND PINEAPPLE CAKE

CAKE
3 Cups Self Raising Flour
2 Cups Caster Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Crushed Pineapple (undrained)
1 cup chopped Walnuts (I used Almonds)
2 cups shredded Carrot
4 Eggs
1 cup Oil
1 cup Cold Water
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

ICING
90 grams softened Cream Cheese
1/2 cup softened Butter or Margarine
4 cups Icing Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
2-3 teaspoons grated orange rind (I left this out because I didnt' have an orange)
About 3 tablespoons Orange Juice

In a large bowl (this makes alot of mixture so make sure it is a very large bowl!), mix all the cake ingredients together.
Beat together well with a spoon until well mixed.
Grease and flour 2 loaf tins or one 10 inch square tin.
Bake in a moderate oven for 90 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool in tins before turning out.

ICING
Beat all ingredients until the mixture is fluffy and of spreading consistency.
If necessary, stir in a little additional orange juice, 1 teaspoon at a time.


Don't tell the kids what is in the cake until after they have tried it lol!!!  
(I know I am such a mean mother :-)    )

Monday 7 November 2011

Ginger Honey Lemon Sauce........so yummy

I apologise for the lack of posts lately.  I have had a bit of a cooking flop period I believe lol.  I have tried quite a few new to me recipes but none have been particularly inspiring at all.  Don't get me wrong, its not like they have been so bad that the dogs have had to step in and save the day lol, but they haven't been recipes that we have gone "Oh that was so good, we have to have that one again" type of things.

Having said that, on the weekend I had a chance to try out 3 new recipes.  One was a cake which was really yummy and I will be posting the recipe for that tomorrow.  Another was a kind of baked custard which, although nice needs a bit of tweaking to make it stand out,,,it was rather bland.  I may make a few alterations and try it again, then maybe it may be worthy of blogging lol.

The third recipe was supposedly a Honey Lemon Chicken.  Well once I began the sauce I just knew it was more like a Ginger Honey Lemon Chicken lol.  I am only posting the recipe for the sauce here.  The part of the recipe for the chicken just didn't really work out.  The chicken looked pretty horrible lol and I sure don't want to put you off making the sauce just because of the look of the chicken on the plate.  Thankfully the meal was edible though and the sauce made it all better!!

If you are a fan of Honey Chicken, Lemon Chicken and/or just enjoy Ginger flavoured things then this one is for you.  Make up your chicken however you would like and then use this over the top or as a dipping sauce it really is quite yummy and very easy to make!!


GINGER HONEY LEMON SAUCE

1/2 Cup Honey
1/2 Cup Chicken Stock
Juice of 1 Lemon (I used 3 tablespoons of juice from a bottle)
5cm piece of Ginger, thinly shredded
2 teaspoons of Cornflour
1 tablespoon Sherry

Put the Honey, Chicken Stock, Lemon Juice and Ginger in a small heavy based saucepan.
Stir to combine, bring slowly to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Mix the cornflour and Sherry thoroughly together to form a smooth mixture.
Add the Sherry mix to the honey/ginger mixture and stir continuously until the mix comes to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer again and allow to cook for a further 3-4 minutes.
Serve with your chicken and enjoy!

Tuesday 1 November 2011

APPLE CREAM DONUT BALLS

I know this is yet another sweet recipe but hey, we all need a treat from time to time.  Besides, when I make up treats I'm usually not as rushed as when I make main meals and I usually manage to remember to take a couple of photos lol.


These donut balls which taste really yummy with icecream by the way, are really nice.  Well worth the effort it takes to stand at the deep fryer in order to make up the full recipe.  Truly this recipe gave me about 100 balls.  It took quite a while but it was well worth it according to the family.  They freeze well and I found that simply zapping them in the microwave for about 15 seconds made them lovely and soft.

APPLE CREAM DONUT BALLS

5 Eggs, beaten
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Whipped Cream
1 & 3/4 cups Buttermilk
1 & 1/2 cups grated raw Apples
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
7 cups Flour

Beat the eggs, add the sugar and beat well.
Add the remaining ingredients in the order given.
Drop by teaspoon into hot fat (400 degrees).
Fry till golden brown all over.
(Check to see if they are cooked all the way through with the first couple to better guage the time it takes)
Drain on paper towel.
Serve plain or roll in sugar.

(As you can see our family loves the sugar coated variety,,,,,,we used a mix of icing sugar, granulated sugar and caster sugar with a little cinnamon added)