TAKE 5

Haven't yet graduated beyond ripping open the packet of cake mix? Then this is for you! 5 packet mixes/pre made dough's ranging from gourmet to off the supermarket shelf were blind taste tested and reviewed by a panel of eight. This week it's Packet Mix & pre made dough Chocolate Chip Cookies being tested.

The Contenders

1. Aunty Kath's       $4.29      Homebake Chocolate chip (Gluten Free)

2. Betty Crocker      $5.33      Milk Chocolate Chunk Cookies

3. Donna Hay          $14.95    Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix

4. White Wings        $5.32      Choc Chip Cookies (Variety Pack)

5. Aunty Kath's        $4.29     Homebaked Chocolate Chip

After a cookie taste mix up, Sarah & David were disqualified this round, but thank you for participating! 

Jodie wasn't available, so Daniel took her spot to become the "Mother & Son" team with his Mum Debbie.

Claire makes her first appearance on the panel. Thank you all.  

Unmarked boxes of baked cookies were sent to the taste testers along with review forms in order to rate each cookie from one to five, comment on taste and texture plus an overall opinion.  After collating the information the results were as follows...

From a possible score of 40

Aunty Kath's GF     18      comments included  "OK, but something not right" Mark

                                                                       "YUK!!" "Disgusting" Emma

Betty Crocker         19.5   comments included  "Not enough choc chips" Tim

                                                                       "Nice texture" "Strange flavour" Claire

Donna Hay            34.5    comments included  "This is the best tasting, melts in your mouth" Debbie

                                                                       "Pretty much exactly what I want in a cookie. Daniel          

White Wings          31.5    comments included  "Nice choc flavour, loved it!" Jake

                                                                        "Weird taste" Emma  

Aunty Kath's         23.5     comments included  "Buttery, ok" Cindy

                                                                        "Sucked" Mark

 Like the Brownie taste test, an easy win for Donna Hay!

Ganache

The Devil Made Me Do It Cupcake
Whipped and Piped Ganache Frosting tops a Devils food cake with flakes of Valrhona chocolate.

Melted, Shaped, Whipped, Dark, White, Dipped, Spread, Milk, all words associated with what must be one of the most versatile ways to use chocolate... Ganache.

Heated heavy cream is poured over chopped chocolate and stirred until blended. 

Depending on the ratio of chocolate to cream, ganache can be used for
Cupcake fillings; one part cream to two parts chocolate
Pouring glaze; one part cream to three parts chocolate 
Light filling; equal parts cream and chocolate. 

Refrigerated ganache can be whipped until piping consistency to pipe on your cakes. Truffles can be formed from cooled ganache, whipped or not.

The ganache can be flavoured with alcohol; Tia Maria, framboise liqueur and Grand Marnier are some my favourites but coffee and pure vanilla essence come are wonderful too. 

Whilst heavy cream is usually used, try sour cream or crème fraîche. Play around with ratios to come up with something that is right for you.

For cupcakes I make ganache fillings, sometimes with praline mixed through, other times chopped toasted nuts, or white chocolate with a berry liqueur. The possibilities are endless, whether your a classic dark chocolate type or wasabi and white chocolate is more your thing, you'll be tempted by ganache. 

Basic Ganache frosting
Makes 2 cups

1 cup of cream
400g of dark eating chocolate, chopped
Pinch of salt
2 tbs of liqueur (optional)

Bring bring cream to the boil, remove from heat, let stand a few minutes before pouring over chopped chocolate and stir until melted, add liqueur if using. Refrigerate until cold. Beat with an electric mixer until colour lightens, being careful not to over beat as ganache will be become grainy. Pipe as per usual. Leftover ganache can be rolled into small balls to form truffles.

*Alton brown makes ganache frosting with equal parts cream/chocolate, Joy of Baking adds a few tablespoons of unsalted butter, Rose levy Beranbaum uses a food processor to blend the chocolate & the cream. As you work more with ganache you'll develop your own ratios, flavours & techniques to suit your personal taste and baking needs. Enjoy!

*To use ganache as a glaze topping see Midnight Mint Mini Cupcakes

*To use ganache as a filling for cupcakes see Gingerbread Boys & Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes

Tool Time

Tool Time the kitchen tools and gadgets I love.

I'm baking French macarons today, there certainly is a lot of different theories, rules & ways to go about getting "the perfect macaron". One such theory is the "double tray" method, a baking tray on top of another baking tray is used to protect the bottom of the macarons from over browning. 

Chicago Metallic is my all time favourite bakeware brand, for cookies I use uncoated 40 x 35.5 cm (16"x14") Chicago Metallic cookie sheets. Heavy enough not to warp, but not to heavy to carry, the sheets are tough, hard wearing & dishwasher safe. Perfect for all your cookie baking from the most delicate sugar tuile to robust biscotti.

I bought mine in Australia from Everten 

Elsewhere, available from Amazon.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Ripe red raspberries stud this light vanilla cake with Fluffy frosting. 

As the last "white christmas" entry for this year, with "show me the colour" and "gingerbread" series starting later in the week, I thought I'd go with my favourite fruit raspberries. When using meringue it's a good idea to include an acid ingredient such as citrus or berries to balance out the sweetness of the frosting, raspberries add a burst of Christmas colour to the cake too. 

Oh Christmas Tree cupcakes

Pre heat oven to 180c (350F) 
12 cup cupcake tray lined with paper liners

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups plain flour (all purpose)
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 unsalted butter (softened)
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup of raspberries (frozen are fine)
*framboise liqueur (French sweet raspberry liqueur) optional

Method
Sift together baking powder and flour, put to one side.
With an electric mixer, *cream sugar and butter. With the mixer on medium beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla.

Alternatively fold in flour and milk, starting and ending with the flour.

Gently stir in raspberries, if using frozen do not defrost first. 

Scoop batter into prepared tin and bake for 23 to 28 minutes or until light golden and the tops spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan 5 minutes, remove to cooling rack, brush with liqueur if using and let cool completely.

Adapted from Very Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cupcakes Julie Hasson 125 best cupcake recipes

Decorate;
Fluffy Frosting
Assorted sized silver cachous 
Edible white glitter

Put a scoop of fluffy frosting on each cake and shape into Christmas tree shape. Sprinkle with cachous and edible glitter. 

Notes;
* framboise liqueur is a lovely liqueur to include in your desserts. Excellent in trifles to soufflés, try a little poured over berries and ice-cream. 
* creamed butter and sugar changes colour and looks whiter. 

                       Fluffy Frosting when set

* Fluffy Frosting losses it's gloss and takes on a meringue look... use edible white glitter if you want sparkle.

St Clement's Three Silver Tree Cupcake

St Clement's orange and lemon cupcake with retro silver Christmas tree picks, on a meringue snow drift. 

We had an aluminimum Christmas tree when I was a child, when I saw the silver tree picks I had to have them! Memories of Mum & I decorating the tree with "snow balls" from cotton wool came flooding back. 

In memory of my Mum...

St Clement's Cupcakes
Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St. Clement's

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups  plain flour (all purpose)
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1 large egg
1/2 cup plain yoghurt 
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp of orange zest
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs orange juice
Optional; Grand Marnier, Limoncello or orange/lemon liqueur of your choice for brushing tops of cakes

12 hole cupcake tray lined with paper liners
Pre heat oven to 180c (350F)

Method
Cream butter, sugar & zests and until light and fluffy, add egg and beat until just combined.

Sift flour & baking powder together.
Mix yoghurt and juices together.
Fold flour and yoghurt mix alternatively, starting and finishing with the flour.

Divided mixture into lined cupcake tray & bake 20 to 25 minutes. Check for doneness by lightly touching the centre of the cake, they should spring back slightly.

Let cool in pan 5 minutes, remove to cooling rack, brush tops of cakes with Grand Marnier or Limoncello. Leave to cool completely and frost with Fluffy Frosting.

Fluffy Frosting; The frosting colours and flavours extremely well, so is suitable for a range of uses/cakes, often used on Angel Food Cakes. Staying glossy for a couple of hours, the frosting them develops a meringue like crust. You can also bring out your gas torch to brown your freshly frosted Lemon meringue cakes.

Of course I prefer Martha Stewart's Fluffy Frosting, I've taken out the vanilla essence out of the frosting for these cakes because I wanted to play the acid of the citrus off against the sweetness of the meringue.

Fluffy Frosting
Makes 3 cups
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large egg whites

Directions
1. In the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer, combine sugar and egg whites. Place the bowl over a pot of gently simmering water, and whisk until the mixture feels warm to the touch and the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes.
2. Return the bowl to the mixer stand. With the whisk attachment, whip on high 
3. until cooled, about 8 minutes. Use immediately.

*If the weather is humid, you may need to beat the frosting for an additional minute in each step to stiffen it

Cupcakes adapted from two lemon cakes, one by Julie Hasson & one by Donna Hay.

Fluffy Frosting From Martha Stewart Weddings, Summer 1999

Decorations

Retro Sliver Cupcake Picks  in packs of 12

Wilton white edible glitter

Creating a snow drift; I used a Loyal number 9 star tip & held the piping bad sideways piping in a wave pattern across the surface of the cake. Tap base of cake on bench to settle the frosting slightly over the sides of the cake. If your frosting is holding too much of a distinct star pattern, squeeze your piping bag a few times to knock out a little of air in the frosting and try again. 

Put a teaspoon or two of edible glitter in a fine sieve and push through for a fine "snow" fall effect. Put in your silver tree picks.

Two and a Half Men, One Fading Baker & Gouda Cheese

                Not usually my first choice of baking inspiration

Touch of a problem with the fibromyalgia/pain levels at the moment. Sunday Brunch has been postponed this week... but coming back next Sunday with a vengeance, or at least with teenage stepson Daniel's choice.

Daniel, getting his inspiration from a rerun of Two and a Half Men has chosen for next Sundays brunch... a double beef, bacon burger, with chilli cheese fries ( I don't even know what a chilli cheese fries are).

It doesn't stop there, apparently I'm baking the bread rolls going off this description from Dan, "I had good bread during the week from a bakery, I think it was a Turkish bread roll, do that, it was crunchy of the outside & soft and fluffy in the middle". The burgers are also going to include gouda cheese, not Australian gouda cheese but "real" gouda, because according to Daniel gouda "is epic!". 

Should be interesting ;)

Back tomorrow with St Clement's Orange and Lemon cupcakes with Fluffy Meringue Frosting!

Falling off

I hadn't seen this before, cases falling totally off the baked cupcakes.

Hmmm, well I've had paper cases separate from the side of cupcakes before, but I've never seen them totally fall off until this week. 

I used red cases to bake a batch of vanilla and a batch of chocolate, then I baked a batch of the same chocolate cake in brown cases. 

An hour after baking all the red cases fell off the chocolate cakes, not a slight lift away from the edge, they totally fell off! No problems with vanilla cakes in the same red cases, or any problems with brown cases. 

There is a few reasons for cupcake cases coming away from the sides of cupcakes, the main culprit is the brand of the cases. Good cases are made from medium weight paper greaseproof paper, not too wide across the top & straighter sides. Sweden and Scandinavia  produce exceptional cases. Fox Run in Australia produces lighter weight papers, but they do stay put. The dark brown cases I use most of time I bulk buy from Earl Craft 'n' Cake inexpensive & reliable, they look great too.

As for the red ones, I guess I'm won't baking chocolate cakes in them ;) 

Scotch Whisky Puddle Cupcake

My Aunty Clare taught me to me "puddle cakes" when I was a little girl staying on her farm. 
Yellow butter cupcake with Scotch Whisky Marmalade. 

Aunty Clare  liked "a wee drop or two" in her cooking, I thought pavlova's were a Creme De Menthe flavoured dessert as a child, apricots & peaches were brandied, there was something in those devilled kidney's that wasn't just Worcestershire sauce and the scotch whisky trifle we had at Christmas time put hairs on your chest! 

Whilst I wouldn't recommend drenching your trifle with scotch whisky, Aunty Clare's Orange Whisky Marmalade that filled her "Puddle cupcakes" are a nice gift for those who are brave at heart. 

Scotch Whisky Puddle Cakes

12 to 24 baked yellow butter cakes

Aunty Clare's Scotch Whisky Marmalade

Ingredients
750g (1.6lb) of washed bitter (Seville) oranges
750g (1.6lb) of sugar
1 tbs of Treacle
2 tbs of Scotch Whisky

Method
Put your oranges in a pot and cover with just over a litre of water (1.5 pints), cover your pot and simmer for an hour until fruit is soft. Remove the fruit from the pan with slotted spoon and put aside to cool. 

Measure the liquid from the pot to make 3 cups (use water to make up the volume if you are a bit short). Stir in the sugar. 

Halve your cooled oranges, scoop the flesh and the pips into a piece of muslin and tie to make a bag. Cut the peel coarsely. 

Put your sugar liquid, and muslin bag in a clean pot and stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. 

Increase the heat and cook at a rolling boil for 10 minutes until the marmalade has reached setting point. Cool for 10 minutes, stir in whisky and pour into sterilised jars or make puddle cupcakes.

To make a puddle cupcakes; Use a cookie cutter (Aunty Claire used a scone cutter) to mark out a circle on top of your cupcakes. With a small knife take away a shallow circle of cake within the circle you marked.

Pour or spoon warm Scotch Whisky Marmalade into circle.

Notes: Changes I made... I used sweet oranges and only used a little bit of peel cut the peel into a fine shred. 

Setting point; Remove pan from heat when testing. Everyone is using different sized pots, so use setting time as a guide only and test early, otherwise you might end up with rubbery marmalade.  Aunty Clare wasn't using a sugar thermometer, she used the cold saucer method... put a teaspoon of hot jam on the sauce if after a minute you can push the marmalade with your finger and it wrinkles/holds it's ready. 

Frosting

Pink Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting, dark chocolate cupcake with strawberry and chocolate Pocky Sticks, that I piped with contrasting chocolate.                       

I've spoken before about how we tend to "ice" cupcakes in Australia rather than frost, this probably explains why...

The frosting I grew up with and still used today in many food publications in Australia is icing sugar, butter & maybe a bit of milk. Tasting a bit like the whipped butter you have on pancakes, which is great melting on a hot pancake mixed with dripping maple syrup but not so great on your cupcake!

What you want a frosting to be is light, with a silky texture and satiny sheen. The type of frosting that you can pipe that perfect swirl with.

Who makes the best frosting in the world to date?? Martha Stewart of course! 

Today I made;

Martha Stewart's Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe

Ingredients
Makes about 9 cups, enough for about 28 cupcakes

2 1/2 cups sugar
10 large egg whites
4 cups (900g or 2lb) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Method
Place sugar and egg whites in the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, and whisk until sugar has dissolved and egg whites are hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Test by rubbing the mixture between your fingers; it should feel completely smooth.
Transfer bowl to mixer stand. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until mixture has cooled completely and formed stiff and glossy peaks, about 10 minutes.
Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated after each addition. Don't worry if the buttercream appears curdled after all the butter has been added; it will become smooth again with continued beating. Add vanilla, and beat just until combined.
Switch to the paddle attachment, and beat on the lowest speed to eliminate any air pockets, about 5 minutes. If using buttercream within several hours, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature in a cool environment. Or transfer to an airtight container, and store in the refrigerator, up to 3 days. Before using, bring buttercream to room temperature, and beat on the lowest speed with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 5 minutes.
© by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

To make the pink white chocolate frosting like I did:

Melt 125g of white chocolate, let it slightly cool. At the end of the beating stage of the Swiss meringue butter cream with the mixer on low add melted chocolate. 

Add a few drops of pink colour & strawberry essence and you have "Pink strawberry chocolate Swiss Meringue butter cream frosting". 

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Cupcake Cases, Liners, Papers & Wrappers

November's Pick

Vanilla Cupcake with Hazelnut Chocolate Ganache filling and Toffee Hazelnut Topper

Cupcake liners can match your theme, just be pretty, or act as your inspiration like these striped cupcake papers did for me when I created Toffee Hazel swirl cupcakes.

 

Yes, this is the second pick for November, but I couldn't resist featuring these swirly Swedish greaseproof cupcake papers, available in seven different colours, medium or mini sized. With elegant striped brown and black cases, retro red & white that just screams "candy canes", I went ahead and bought a multi pack of all seven colours, with a bonus packet of rainbow sprinkles from Layer Cake Shop. 

Swedish made papers tend to have deeper grooves, are fantastic to bake in and your cupcakes will not come away from their cases.