MERRY CHRISTMAS

Every year I try and decide on a new theme for my tree. This year my Christmas baubles were turned into Plum puddings and the candy canes and gingerbread men were made out of felt.  I was asked by a few people if they were edible, really people!

The tree should have been fuller and brighter , but I was trying to keep it hand made as much as possible,  I love a tree groaning under the weight of Christmas decorations, but there is a limit as to how many plum puddings, candy canes and gingerbread men a girl can make.

At times I felt like Tinkerbell scattering fairy dust through the house With so much glitter about, I had visions of Mr T&T arriving at work with sparkle glitter on his face.  I thought it was a very funny scenario, Mr T&T not so much.

My wish for you is a sparkle, fun family filled Christmas season and a peaceful and prosperous 2016.

Happy Halloween

Halloween is not traditionally celebrated in Australia, although in recent years it is becoming more popular.

Around these parts I have been having a little fun sculpturing cakes. Halloween seemed like a great opportunity to try my hand a making a Jack `o Lantern cake.  This was my first attempt at a pumpkin cake, so very pleased with the result.

The cake is a chocolate mud cake with layers of raspberry jam and dark chocolate ganache. As in a previous post the chocolate mud cake is the perfect cake for sculpturing.

The J 'o L found a really good home at the office of Mr T&T and was in good company.

Even if I say so myself, the cake was moist and delicious.  I think the reason people like the mud cake is that it is not sweet, maybe because of the dark chocolate ganache.

Wishing all, who celebrate Halloween a safe and Happy Halloween.

True Blue

Well, the lamington has to be one of the quintessential true blue Aussie desserts/cakes.

There are a few stories as to how the humble but delicious lamington was developed.

The story below, as told to me by a friend. ( more information on Google. )
                                         
Lord Lamington who was the Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901 had in his employment, a cook who accidentally dropped the sponge into a chocolate mix.  I am sure as any adventurous cook in the kitchen would do, is to come up with a plan.  Who would possibly want to waste a delicious chocolate soaked vanilla sponge cake, a dousing of coconut was added and the lamington was born. How it became to be named the lamington is up for debate, either being named after Lord or Lady Lamington.

The lamington comes in different shapes, such as a roulade or as a cake filled with fresh cream and raspberry jam / jelly. " Oh, be still my beating heart ! "

Traditionally the lamington is a vanilla sponge with a chocolate dipping sauce and coated in desiccated  coconut.

Another variation is the sponge being dipped in an 'almost set' jelly/ jello mix before being rolled in coconut.

For Australia Day next year,  I think I may try a lemon myrtle flavoured lamington. Lemon myrtle is a native Australia herb which has to be one of my absolute favourite . ( Especially good in cheesecake. )

At Casa T & T the preference is for a chocolate sponge dipped in the chocolate sauce before being rolled in the coconut / cocoa mix.  For a seriously good dessert serve with a scoop of ice cream.
    
                                Ingredients weighed out and really to go.  
                                             

       
                                Cream butter and sugar add eggs followed by dry and
                                wet ingredients.

                                Pour into a lined rectangle cake tin.
                                   

                                Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 40 minutes.
                                         

                           
                                Cut into 2.5 cm or 1 inch squares    
   

                              For the dipping sauce combine icing sugar, cocoa powder water and butter.

                               Drop a sponge square into the chocolate sauce, make sure the

                               cake is well coated.

                               Roll around in the coconut / cocoa powder mix.

                               Line the beauties on a cooling rack, place in fridge to set.

                                Serve with a cup of tea, utterly scrumptious !

You had, what in your soup !

My late maternal Grandmother used to raise chickens.  When they were ready for the soup pot, my siblings and cousins A and J would try their best to catch them.  Secretly I was afraid of chasing them, too much of a princess perhaps ?

From the doorway of the kitchen I remember watching my grandmother and her housekeeper U clean the chickens.  After the chicken had been cleaned and the feathers plucked from their plump bodies, a bowl with mentholated spirits would be lit.  The chicken would be passed through the dancing blue flame to singe off all the tiny feathers.

In an outside room there was a large chest freezer. I have a memory of opening the freezer and seeing the cleaned chickens at the bottom of the freezer. The image below is of a rubber chicken and a real representation of my memory.

                                                              ( Image source: Google )
                                                                  www.caufields.com
                                                                  

One tasty morsel that we as children fought over were the eggs, beautiful golden balls of deliciousness.  One thing that made me feel really special is when my Grandmother would quietly call me into the kitchen and be given a few eggs to eat.

A friend recently asked me what the eggs looked like.  The only way I could describe them was it looks like a bunch of grapes.  As I only remember what they looked liked cooked, I got my trusty assistant Ms Google to a little research.  Oh, my goodness not a pretty sight, they sure taste better than they look. Mr T&T almost gagged when I showed him the image.

Recently I watch a program by renowned British chef Rick Stein called from Venice to Istanbul.  In one segment he is visiting Croatia ( correct me if I am wrong ) with a  local chef cooking a traditional chicken dish.  Among the deliciously cooked chicken in the dish Rick spots a yellow " ball " which he thought was a kumquat, turns out to be a chicken egg.  I was soo excited I had to show Mr T&T he still was not impressed.

We are now so familiar with Asian cuisine, that it does not seem shocking at all to walk past a Chinese supermarket or restaurant and see roasted ducks displayed in the front window.

Chicken soup served to us up by my late Grandmother yielded many delicious treats such as the head of the chicken, the livers were reserved solely for my Mother.  The chicken heart was reserved for my cousin J, the feet did not appeal to me too gelatinous.  But, it was the chicken eggs that were the most fought over, hence feeling very privileged by the sneaky egg given to me by my Grandmother.

So many wonderful memories attached to a simple chicken soup observed from the entrance to the kitchen. From being outside watching my siblings and cousins running up and down the chicken enclosure trying to catch the chickens. To my Grandmother and her housekeeper U cleaning the chickens and running them through the dancing blue flame.  Lesson learnt from my Grandmother and Mother is that food is more than nourishment it means I care.  My Mother and I have been chatting about the recipe and what her mother told her, I am going to try and recreate the soup. Wish me luck.

Sadly, I did not always appreciate the soup.  I was 14 years old when my Grandmother passed away, way too soon for me to learn more from her.  My heart at times feels heavy with sadness at her passing.  I now think that it is heavy with her memories of great food, bread and couscous making from scratch ( I might add ) Most of all lots of laughter and that, surely  must be a good thing.

If only one more bowl...

Hot Chocolate

Compared to the southern states in Australia, it does not get very cold in Queensland. That was until the Antarctica vortex appeared about a month back. Nothing better than a 'steaming '( I'll get to that shortly ) mug of hot chocolate.

Lets start at the very beginning, a very good place to start ... 

It was during a visit to Melbourne a few years ago, I came across a chocolate shop called Chokolait ( here.)   In my humble opinion I think they make the best hot chocolate, as well as friendly staff. Thus began my love affair with that delicious cup of velvet goodness.  A visit to Melbourne is not complete without a visit to Chokolait.

It was during our first visit to France in 2010 that we found it a little odd that hot chocolate was served at breakfast.  We loved it and as they say " When in Rome " or in this instance Paris.  

Our quest to find the perfect hot chocolate was born.  We did come home with what we thought was the next best thing, a hot chocolate mix from Angelina's  and another hot chocolate mix that we bought from Le Grande Epiceire de Paris ( an amazing food hall, peoples !)

It was after a visit to the Military Museum we came across a quaint bistro.  Hot chocolate seemed like a good idea. Oh my goodness it was amazing, as was the pain au chocolate.

                          

Back in Brisbane and on a high after visiting Paris we decided to visit a French Patisserie in Brisbane, so hot chocolate and croissants were eagerly order with the greatest anticipation of being wowed. Sadly it was a bitter disappointed a thought did cross my mind " Toto we are not in Kansas anymore."

Now the search was on for the perfect chocolate for this delicious cup of goodness. Mr T&T found out that a deli in the City was offering a  pop up class presented by Vahrhona Chocolate.  The lovely man that he is, surprised me by booking me into the class.  It was very interesting and there were many delicious desserts to try, as well as a sample bag of the various blends or country of origin chocolates to try. 

It was then that the love affair started with the Valrhona Manjari 64% chocolate started.  We enjoy it as a hot chocolate and Mr T&T has become a bit of a Valhrona snob.  As for myself I am still rather partial to a Toblerone, keeping it real peoples !

During our second visit to Paris in 2014  the search was now on for the perfect hot chocolate.  Armed with our trusty list we began our pilgrimage.  After what seemed like forever we found the little bistro that had  in served us that delicious hot chocolate 2010.  

What a disappointment, we were served a milky hot chocolate in a tall glass, gone was the theater of the steamed milk and most important where was that velvet goodness. Communicating through, what is honestly our non existence French and their broken English we learnt that the Bistro had changed hands.

A little downtrodden we made our way to Angelina's,( here ) famous for their hot chocolate. It was amazingly thick and velvet but a little too sweet for us. I think they use a milk chocolate,  by this time we had got used to the Valrona Majari 64%. We had to try the food as well, lunch was pretty amazing. The restaurant is beautiful I loved everything about it.  What was not to love, after all we were in Paris.

There was another restaurant that we found that supposed to serve the best hot chocolate, it sadly   failed to deliver.

As luck would have it we found the best hot chocolate the day before we were to fly back to Australia. It was a restaurant in the La Grande Epicerie de Paris ( here ) .  It was everything a hot chocolate should be rich, thick and utterly delicious.

What makes a dish or in this instance a hot chocolate marvelous?  Was it the ambiance in that Bistro the friendly owners, or was it just a great hot chocolate ?

There have many discussions at Casa T&T about the amount of chocolate to use.  Mr T&T always maintained that if the milk is allowed to boil it has a different taste. 

" Nonsense " I replied.  Sadly I have had to admit that I was wrong. 

" Surprised ?" 

" I know,  me too! "

It was while I was watching a TV program about coffee making. The barista explained the importance of the temperate of the milk, the following is what I have since learnt.

Steaming milk:

At 60 deg C ( 140 deg F ) milk proteins start to caramelize.

At 65 deg C ( 149 deg F ) the proteins are sweet.

At 70 deg C ( 158 deg F ) the proteins are cooking out.

At 75 deg C ( 167 deg F ) the proteins are gone.

Burnt milk tastes like water, that is because all the fat proteins have been cooked out.

Using the Valrhona Majari 64%

Mr T&T likes a strong chocolate flavour so 18 pieces of the chocolate ( 57 g or 1.95 oz )

My preference is for a slightly less rich chocolate flavour so 15 pieces ( 44 g or  1.40 oz )

The Callebaut 55% makes a really nice hot chocolate, it seems sweeter than the Valrhona Manjari 64% which could be a little bitter for some people.  When we offer the hot chocolate to our guests, first sip they find too bitter.  Our advice is to have a few sips before making a judgement, unless you really cannot stand dark chocolate.

The Lint Chocolate Excellence range a has great choice of  flavours such as Intense Mint.  These flavours may prove to make a delicious hot chocolate drink. 

Place in a saucepan and allow the chocolate to gently melt.

Rotate the saucepan gently to keep the chocolate from sticking to the bottom of the pot.  Using a heat resistant spatula stir the milk to make sure all the chocolate has melted.

Use an infra red digital thermometer or digital probe to measure the temperature of the milk.

Mr T&T heats the mug with boiling water, I cannot stand a lukewarm hot drink, this works really well.  Add froth to your hot chocolate by using a stick blender.

Scrumptious orange madeleines were served alongside the frothy hot chocolate

Do you have a favourite hot chocolate flavour or place you like to visit ?

Enjoy!

On finding inspiration, cakes and more.

Inspiration can be found in a variety of celebrations such as religious or cultural. Birthdays are fun and there are lots of ideas and information to draw on.  The seasons are also a great source of inspiration for example cherry blossoms for Spring cakes

A few years ago I attended a sugar paste workshop on Foliage (leaves), this has been one of the most exciting workshops I have ever done.   Green leaves are not all born equal, to coin a phrase.

Take the time to look at  leaves in your garden or when out on a walk.  Always try to work from a real leaf for the correct colour.  I have seen many beautiful competition cakes with amazing flowers, only for the cake to be let down by incorrectly coloured green leaves.  Just because the colour on the bottle is labeled as 'Leaf Green' does not necessary mean that it is the leaf green colour that you require.

The following two cakes were made for competitions that I entered.  Competition work allows more freedom to express your creativity and encourages one to think outside the square or cake, so as to speak.

The inspiration for the first cake began with my favourite colour combination. The pink, yellow and apricot roses was the colour combination of  my bridal bouquet. Adding the green gave the cake a light and fresh feel.

For the flowers I was drawn to creating a feminine feel. The flowers that made the cut ( funny ! ) were roses, lilies, the hellebore and last but not least the blushing bride ( my favorite flower ever! ) and ivy.

The  Australian Mud cake was used for all the cakes featured in this blog  It is a dense and  delicious cake, great for sculpturing as well as stacking. Make sure the layers are well supported with food grade dowels.

The inspiration behind this next cake was Paris, I wanted the cake to have a luxurious feel hence, the deep colours of the Roses.

Each layer have their own "story" the cake topper being the Eiffel Tower. 

Next was a nod to the Moulon Rouge representing a corset with a lace up back.( I know it is conservative. )

A hat box always seems to represent luxury,with gorgeous vintage luggage labels representing glamorous destinations.

The cake topper was a piped Eiffel Tower using royal icing.  The first and second level platforms were made using the flood work method.  

A French chef I was working with at the time pointed out , that as I had not added the antenna at the top it was not entirely a true representation.  Soon after making this cake the head pastry chef requested an Eiffel tower for a wedding cake he was asked to make.  This time I added the antenna, pleased to report back that we had a very happy French chef in the kitchen.  Thank you chef S, now it annoys me that there is no antenna :)

For the corset, a cake was made in  an hourglass shape representing the female form.  From previous experience baking this cake in a steam pudding tin, resulted in very little carving and a more structurally sound cake.  In the past I have sucessfully baked a mud cake using an oven proof Pyrex dish. When baking in a pudding shape bowl or steam pudding tin line the base with a disk of parchment paper. Your cake will release easily once cold,there is nothing worse than leaving some of the cake behind in your tin

View of the back of the cake with the lace up detail.  For the design on the corset I used a small calyx and blossom cutter.  The paste was rolled out using a textured rolling pin, adding interest to the corset design.

Close up of the roses which were made in various sizes.  Instead of making the roses on wire, I made them on food grade wooden toothpicks.

For the bottom layer I wanted it to have the feel of a vintage hat box.  Edible imaging was used for the luggage labels.

The Paris inspired cake entailed hours of work and close to two hundred roses.  The Eiffel Tower was a challenge but in the end I was thrilled with the result.

Once judging was complete the general public were invited to view the entries. The greatest compliment I received was from a couple who were visiting from their" hometown' of Paris.  They seemed excited to see the cake and asked to take a picture of the it.

Art Deco inspired wedding cake.

During the consultation with the bride and groom, they revealed their interest in art deco.  The colour scheme for the wedding was red and white.  That colour combination is a bit of a tricky one for me. One needs to find the right balance as it can go from class to tacky really quickly.

My suggestion was a minimum use of red with a touch of black.  The colour of the red powder is called Poncho.  It is a beautiful red, ideal for Christmas.  The Poncho is a concentrated colour, once it has been mixed into your  sugar paste it does gradually darken.  

Art chalks or pastels may be non toxic but that does not necessary make them food grade.  It is always best to follow food guidelines set by your State or Country.  

Working with coloured fondant / pettinice, my good friend V once gave me a fabulous tip.  When I first tried to use the  coloured fondant  / pettinice, I was having trouble working with it as it crumbled really quickly and was difficult to roll out.  Work in  a little White fondant / pettince it binds it together and makes the fondant / pettinice more manageable to work with. ( colour is not compromised, unless that is what you want. )

The flat pieces on the cake needed to be strong, therefore they were made  from Mexican paste.  This paste dries really hard and I did not have to worry about the humidity making the pieces soft.

The decoration for the top tier was inspired by a mirror design.

The second was the ' fish scale ' design, this worked really well with the hint of red.

The bottom layer was inspired by a building facade.

Although in the style of Art deco , who would have thought that three images such as a mirror, wallpaper and a building facade would have resulted in a wedding cake.

Thank you to B and A for giving me the opportunity to make your cake.

The following images are where the inspiration came for the cake design.

www.decomirrors.com.au

Google, Art deco designs

Google, Century Hotel, Miami

"WELCOMEfest" 2015

Mr T&T and I attended "WELCOMEfest", it comes as no surprise that the international cuisine was top of my list. The cooking demonstrations proved to be popular, I loved every minute of the day.

We arrived early as everyone was still getting ready, below are some of  the wonderful food stalls. 

I am always interested in learning about flavour profiles in different cuisines. The gentleman at the Rwandan food stall told me that one of the main spices are chilli. Another ingredient that is widely used is the plantain

.

The lamb brochette was delicious, perfectly cooked.

This was a type of doughnut with a hint of sweetness, light and fluffy. All I needed was a cup of tea

Introducing the friendly ladies from Togo.

This was delicious with a hint of cumin, loved the pastry.

Cuisines represented in the cookery tent were  Iraq, Eritrean, India, Afghanistan, Amharic, Persia and Malaysia.  

Amazing vegetable and fruit carving from Chef Tony Hee. The vase is a paw paw with delicate carving. Good enough to eat ?

 The carrot flower as well as the chilli flower are both in the image below. Alas, no image of  the  onion flower that looked like the Dalia flower and a flower carved from a beetroot. 

This watermelon carving is what Chef Tony did during his demonstration. He kept saying, "This is easy!"  It was suggested that when learning, one should start with a soft fruit. The soft fruit offers little resistance when carving.( a safer option ) Sharp knives are key to carving. Care should always be taken when using knives.

We were given an insight into the Eritrean coffee ceremony. The tradition encompasses sense of belonging with friends and family. The beans are roasted and ground. Frankensence is burnt during the coffee ceremony.  Before the coffee beans are roasted they look like green lentils.  I am not a coffee drinker but who could pass up the opportunity of joining in.  The coffee had an unusual flavour and with the addition of ginger gave me a peppery mouth feel. It was delicious. I love anything that brings meaning to the process.

Other cuisines demonstrations that we saw was an Eritrean dish called Beef Zighni and Enjera bread. ( a type of flat bread ) Delicious !

Two sweet dishes from Iraq. One was Kopme a fried dough pastry, once fried the dough is soaked in a lemon syrup. The second sweet was called Znood El Sit. Semolina is cooked, about a teaspoon full is placed on  two short lengths of Filo pastry and fried. I must admit it did not sound very good, that was before I tried it.
"Oh my gosh, it was amazing!" The orange blossom water added a beautiful delicate flavour to the pastry.
Besides the food stalls and the cookery demonstrations there were activities for children. Music, song and dance performances from around the globe, including a troupe of drummers from Burundi. It was hard to decide what to see as I would have happily sat in the cookery tent all day.
At the start of the day was the Citizen ceremony, it was lovely to be part of an exciting start to the newest Australians.
We spent time walking around, taking in all the sights of seeing people in traditional dress, the sounds of music from around the world and the enticing aromas of exotic cuisine. There was beautiful bead work from the ladies from Eritrea.
While walking around we stopped at  a stall which offers assistance to those who have suffered trauma or torture. One forgets behind every smiling face that day there would have been many stories, happy or sad.
The objective of WELCOMEfest ( mdaltd.org.au ) is to bring Brisbane's diverse cultural communities together to create welcome, discover culture and celebrate everyone's contribution to multicultural Australia.
I certainly felt it that day and hope everyone else did.