Homemade Traditional Apple Pie

My Homemade Traditional Apple Pie

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp raw caster sugar

250g organic unsalted butter

1/4 cup milk

1kg apples

1/8 cup raw caster sugar

1/8 cup brown sugar

1/8 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp cornflour

1 tsp cinnamon

Method

First, make the pastry. Have a bowl ready.

Chop the chilled butter into cubes and place on a bench with the flour and salt.

Use a rolling pin to roll the butter with the flour.

Do this for about a minute then return to the fridge in a bowl to re-chill the butter.

This is important as we are making nice flaky pastry and the butter has to remain cold to form layers without melting and forming globs.

Roll the mixture again, folding over a few times to keep mixture together.

Return to the bowl and add the milk. Bring together with your hands.

 Separate into two balls (1/3 and 2/3 of the mix)

Refridgerate both, separately covered in plastic wrap.

 Meanwhile, weigh out just under a kilo of mixed apples.

Peel (a ceramic peeler was excellent here), core and slice the apples.

Add cinnamon, sugars and salt. Leave in bowl to macerate for 15 minutes. 

Make a tea...peruse the garden...

Then, place the apples in a sieve or colander above the bowl to allow the juices to drain out.

While waiting for the apples to drain, roll out the pastry and line to pie dish.

Place larger refridgerated pastry on a well floured benchtop.

Allow to warm up for about 5 minutes then start rolling out.

Roll to the size of the pie dish plus an extra 10cm for the edges.

 

 Lay pastry over pie dish

 Trim edges with a sharp knife

Place in the fridge covered in plastic wrap.

Back to the apples: reduce the apple juices in a saucepan by about one third so they are syrupy.

Pour back into bowl with apples and add the cornflour and mix well.

Add this to the pie and return to the fridge.

Roll out the remaining dough into strips and make a lattice over the pie. 

Place in fridge covered for 30 minutes to allow the pastry to relax.

Preheat oven to 190 C, then bake for approximately 40-45 minutes.

Serve with creamy chardonnay!

French Custard Caramel Pie

French Custard Pie, at Robert Blanc Mountain Refuge (Originated from Brittany), en route Tour Du Mont Blanc, France.

After walking over 1500 metres up and down over the highest pass I have been on, we arrived late afternoon at Robert Blanc refuge. No walkers were there. Just Adriano, a french boy and an amazing cook!

He cooked us mountain soup with fromage (tomo de prezzo local cheese; we were near the italian border), wine and roast chicken with champignon and herb rice. We were so impressed and grateful already, then eh came out with this huge delicious custard pie, a recipe from his family in Brittany.

Ingredients

6 Eggs

1 cup Flour

1 cup Milk

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 cup pitted prunes

Method

Whisk all ingredients together except the prunes.

Pour into a deep pie dish.

Chop the prunes and scatter in.

Bake for 1 hour at 150 C or till golden on the edges.

Serve with caramel cream and salted caramel sauce!

Mango, Citrus & Passionfruit Frozen Yoghurt

Gav and Ania gave us an ice-cream maker for a wedding present last October, and I have been making use of it with fresh fruit. My friend Anya from round the corner gave us some beautiful big mangoes from her Mum's farm up in QLD and I used one to make this tangy frozen yoghurt.

Ingredients

1 very large mango the size enclosed by two large hands, or two small mangoes, one handful each.
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup orange juice (about 1)
1/4 cup passionfruit pulp (about 3)
1/4 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup milk
500g greek style yoghurt

Method
Whiz the first 6 ingredients in a food processor till smooth
Transfer to the ice cream maker with the milk and yoghurt and churn for 45 minutes.
Transfer to a container and place in freezer.
Alternatively, if you dont have an icecream maker you can just put it in the freezer. The difference for this frozen yoghurt is that it will just be a bit harder and more crystallized. To remedy this stir it every few hours after you have made it and remove it from the freezer 20 minutes before serving to 'ripen'.

Salted Caramel Fudge

Salted caramel fudge. Addictive. Melts in your mouth. Perfect when you're too full for dessert but you want something gooey and sweet with your after dinner tea (rooibos chai for me).


Ingredients

• 395g can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup golden syrup plus 1 tbsp
• 125g butter, chopped
• 180g white chocolate, finely chopped
• sea salt flakes
*optional decorative icing sugar shapes (butterflies)

Method

1. Grease pan a 4cm deep, 20cm (base) square cake pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang on all sides. You can also grease it with butter or spray oil.

2. Place condensed milk, sugar, golden syrup and butter in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, without boiling, for 10 minutes or until mixture is glossy and sugar has dissolved.

3. Increase heat to medium-low. Bring to a simmer, stirring. Cook, stirring constantly, for 6 to 8 minutes or until mixture thickens and comes away from side of pan. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate until combined and melted. Spoon into prepared pan. Smooth top. Sprinkle with salt and decorations, pressing in with the back of a spoon to secure. Set aside for 30 minutes. Cover with plastic. Refrigerate for 6 hours or until firm.

Cut into pieces!

Creme Brulee a la Maple

This creme brulee has a voice.

Mum got me a blowtorch and after making a huge Pavlova I took the opportunity to make this with the leftover egg yolks to serve on the side. It was liked. The bowls were scraped clean because I added a bit of extra maple syrup at the bottom....

I used the recipe from "O Pistachio"

Persian Baklava

Ingredients for syrup

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup honey

1/2 cup rosewater

Ingredients for layers

1/2 cup light brown sugar

500g pistachios

500g blanched almonds

2 tbsp cardamom

1 tsp cinnamon

15 frozen phyllo pastry sheets

1/2 cup melted butter, plus more

Method

Make the syrup first. It needs to be cold when the Baklava is removed from the oven after an hour of baking. The rule is - cold syrup on hot baklava or hot syrup on cold baklava. We wanted the pastry to be hot! We also wanted to eat it as soon as it was done so if you agree I reccomend the cold syrup version.

Place 1 cup sugar, 1 cup honey, rosewater in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes then remove from heat and cool. When cool refridgerate to make cold.

Place 1/2 cup sugar, pistachios, almonds, cardamom, and cinnamon in food processor and pulse till mixture is like breadcrumbs with some larger pieces of nut. You can see from the picture that ours was quite coarse, which was nice however it did fall apart more easily than I imagine a finer crumb would. Nevertheless, I wouldnt change what we did.

Butter a large baking tray with edges. Lay down 5 sheets, brushing butter each sheet.

 Sprinkle over a layer of the nut mixture.

Follow this with another 5 buttered sheets. Repeat until all used up or until you reach the height of the tray.
Brush the last layer with butter and then using a sharp knife cut the pastry diagonally into diamond shapes.
You can press it down - that will help it hold together later anyway.

Bake for 180 degrees C for 1 hour.
Pour sugar syrup over top and enjoy!
Garnish with rose petals

Thanks Sal and Eliza for being such good cooking buddies.

Mountain Bike Birthday Cake

Blanche and I made these cakes for Dan's 30th and Eliza's 29th birthdays.

Chocolate cake with vanilla spokes and Berry Cheesecake with strawberry spokes!

Chocolate Rum Balls

Chocolate Rum Balls

Ingredients:
1 packet shredded wheatmeal biscuits
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 tbsp cocoa
2 shots smooth Bundaberg Red Rum
1 cup dessicated or shredded coconut
cocoa to dust

Method:
Mix all ingredients together and roll into balls.
Coat with cocoa and place in mini muffin cups in fridge to set.
Serve with tea and coffee after dinner.

Spiced Poached Pears with Vanilla Mascarpone

Spiced Poached Pears with Vanilla Mascarpone

Mum cooked this for Dad and I and it was wonderful and not too sweet. The pears were like marinated meat - the flavours and spices absorbed into the flesh during the hour of cooking.

Ingredients:
500ml (2 cups) dry red wine

70g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
2 whole star anise
2 x 7cm cinnamon sticks
1 tsp vanilla bean extract
4 just-ripe packham pears, peeled
1 x 250g ctn mascarpone
2 tbs icing sugar mixture
1 tsp vanilla bean extract

Method:
Combine the wine, sugar, star anise, cinnamon and vanilla bean in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Add the pears and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, turning occasionally, for 1 hour or until pears are tender. Remove pears and set aside.

Increase heat to high and bring the syrup to the boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly. Pour over the pears.

Place the mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla extract in a medium bowl and stir to combine.

Transfer the pears to a serving dish and drizzle with syrup. Serve with mascarpone.

Zesty Citrus, Almond & Hazelnut Cake

Zesty Citrus, Almond and Hazelnut Cake

This is a lovely cake with no butter or milk so its lactose free. Its also really really easy to make, you cant really go wrong with it. I made this with my Mum, Pam, for her birthday and we served it with yoghurt because it just lended itself to that sourish flavour. It is actually now my Mum's and my favourite cake! We might add some cinnamon or cardamom next time though because we love warm spices.

Ingredients:

2 oranges

6 eggs

250g caster sugar

250g almond meal

100g hazelnut meal

1tsp baking powder

Extra caster sugar for dusting before baking

Icing sugar for dusting after baking

Margarine or oil spray (for greasing the pan)

Method:

Wash oranges and place unpeeled, in a pot of boiling water for 2 hours. Drain the water and allow the oranges to cool completely. This can be done ahead of time.

Preheat oven to 190°C.

Break 6 eggs into a mixing bowl or blender. Add caster sugar and beat till light and airy.

Place the two oranges into the egg mix. Break up the oranges and then blend together to a smooth consistency. Blend in the baking powder, lemon zest, almond and hazelnut meal.

Grease a 20 cm silicone baking pan with margarine (or vegetable oil spray) and dust with caster sugar.

Pour batter into the pan and sprinkle caster sugar on top and bake for 1 hour to an hour and a half or until the top is golden brown.

Dust with icing sugar and slivered almonds to serve.

German Argentinian Food and Soccer

Geoff and Jess invited us over for the World Cup game between Argentinia and Germany and we all cooked food themed by those countries signature dishes.

Geoff and Jess made amazing Sauerkraut with bacon and three types of German sausages: Kransky, Bratwurst and another wurst....real nice!

There were other lovely foods like carrot salad, potato salad, German dumplings and we made an Argentinian BBQ leg of lamb with Chimichurri sauce.

Making Churros!

Ingredients:

400ml milk  

200g plain flour

2 eggs, beaten 

Peanut oil, to deep-fry

caster sugar

cinnamon powder

Method:

Sift the flour onto a sheet of baking paper.

Heat milk in a saucepan with 150ml water.

When boiling, tip in flour and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until it comes away from the sides of the pan. Set aside to cool slightly, then add the eggs, beating until well combined.

Heat the oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan over high heat. Place the churros dough in a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle (you can get these from woolworths in a box in the cake section) and pipe the dough into the hot oil in strips or horseshoe shapes.

Allow to become golden brown on one side (about 1 minute), then carefully turn over and cook the other side for about 1-2 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel, to drain.

Combine the cinnamon and caster sugar together in a bowl and dip the churros in the cinnamon sugar to coat.
Serve with Dulce de Leche a signature Argentinian caramel sauce made by boiling sweetened condensed milk in the can or in a double boiler (pictured below) for over an hour.


They were so yummy I forgot to take more photos!

Lemon Yoghurt Pie

Rachels Lemon Yoghurt Pie (Nana's Favourite)

I learnt to cook this recipe in my year 10 food tech class, and I made a few adjustments to the recipe, including more lemon zest and juice because my family loves lemons. I used to cook this yoghurt pie for my Nanas birthday every year, and since everyone liked it so much, and that it was one of the first specialties I had to claim, I started making it for other occasions. I have not made this pie in a long time! So mum's birthday was an inpsiration to do so - the delicious smooth and tangy lemon flavour brought back many memories.

Ingredients

Dough for Crust:

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

125g margarine

5tbsp water

Filling:

150ml lemon juice

4tbsp lemon rind

400g sweetened condensed skim milk

200g plain traditional yoghurt
2 free range eggs

Method:
Crust
1. Rub margarine into flour then add the water until the dough comes together. Knead lightly then wrap and refridgerate until ready to bake.
2. Roll out the pastry and press into a pie dish, pinching the sides for decoration.


Bake in 200C oven for 10 mins weighed down with old rice or pasta.

3. Bake for further 5 mins uncovered. Remove from oven to pour in the filling.

Filling:
1. Mix the condensed milk and eggs together. Add the rind, lemon juice and yoghurt and combine. (I sometimes add orange rind as well because I love citrus!)
2. Pour mixture into pie dish.
3. Bake for 20 mins at 200C

Serve hot (yummy - its perfect straight away!) or cold with some sweet fruits (I used in season mangoes, peaches and strawberries) and vanilla icecream.


We love this pie!