Liquorice Licorice Ice Cream

Liquorice ice cream

500ml (2 cups) each full-cream milk and fresh cream

250ml (1 cup) soft liquorice, sliced

8 medium egg yolks

30ml (2 tsbp) soft brown sugar

Pinch salt

Makes 1 litre (4 cups)

Place milk and liquorice in a large saucepan and heat, stirring gently, until liquorice melts (about 15 minutes).  

Remove from stove and add cream. 

Beat egg yolks with sugar until thick and creamy. 

Add salt and whisk into milk. 

Return to stove and cook, stirring constantly over low heat, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. 

Strain into a clean bowl. 

Cool, and then freeze until partly frozen. 

Remove from freezer, beat well and return to freezer. 

Repeat process 3 times. Freeze until hard.


Ice Cream Recipe 

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Aurore and Nick’s Chocolate Cake

If you get those chocolate cravings and want something light but with that rich chocolate taste, then this is the best hit for your indulgent fix.

Guaranteed to be popular with just about everyone…

Print off a few copies to have handy because I assure you’ll be asked for it everytime you share this delectable treat

400g of good chocolate (milk or dark - or a mix of both. I'm toying with the idea of trying this with mint chocolate and chocolate with macadamia nuts)

175g butter

200g sugar

100g flour

4 eggs

Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water

Mix eggs, sugar and melted chocolate/butter together, then add flour and mix

Put in an elongated loaf tin to make it a cake and bake for 25 minutes at 175C
                  (or if you prefer you can make up to 16 muffins.)

We've made both the cake version and the muffins.

This is what I reckon a Mars Bar would be like IF it WERE actually a muffin

Place on a wire rack until cooled, then refrigerate until ready to eat

Microwave for 7 seconds to enjoy warm with a good strong coffee or cuppa tea
The oozy chocolate center is a great surprise



Chocolate Cake

Stollen – Christmas bread recipe with pictures

For me, Stollen is the epitome of Christmas celebration food.

Bread is bread – but stick to the basics and with the addition of some interesting ingredients – it can get very tasty. A choice of sweet or savoury...

This festive fruit bread is the most expensive bread I’ve made but so far, but ranks as my all-time favourite. 

If the thought of buying all the ingredients in one go causes you to reach for the phone to get some budgetary advice, start buying some ingredients now, so when Christmas week arrives you can enjoy the process.

I used our bread making machine to take care of the dough making, but if you like the artisan approach to doing everything by hand – go for it.

And - since the recipe makes two loaves, you’ll have one spare to give as a gift.

Stollen for Christmas

Stollen – Christmas bread recipe

Ingredients

125g mixed peel

100g raisins

100g dried cranberries

5 tablespoons dark rum I don’t drink rum, but one of those small bottles (think airline food) is the exact amount you’ll need.)

14g dried yeast

60g caster sugar

250ml warm milk (=1 cup)

freshly grated nutmeg

700g flour

pinch of salt

85g butter, melted

4 eggs

100g shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

300g marzipan

2 tablespoons milk for egg glaze

1 cup icing sugar

¼ cup water

Method

Mix together the fruit and peel. Sprinkle the rum over and set aside.

Dissolve the yeast and a pinch of the sugar in the warm (not hot) milk and set aside somewhere warm to activate.

When it starts to bubble (about 10 minutes), sprinkle on the nutmeg and remaining sugar.

Rub the flour and salt together with the butter then stir in the yeast mix.

(this is where the trusty bread machine came in handy – but Please! – remember...only use the dough option – You are NOT using the machine to bake the bread as well)

 Beat 2 eggs and add to the yeast mix with the fruit.

The dough should be elastic and firm; add a little more milk if it is crumbly.

Cover with a clean cloth and place in a large bowl.

(If you are using the dough only function on your bread machine then let it rise the dough for you)

Set aside somewhere warm to rest until it doubles in size (about 40 minutes).

Knock down gently, fold over, tip out on a floured surface and knead lightly.

Split the dough into 2 balls.

Roll the first ball into a long oval about 20cm x 10cm and 5mm thick.

Sprinkle half the pistachios over.

Roll out half the marzipan into a log and place in the centre of the dough.

marzipan

Roll the dough firmly round the marzipan.

Beat 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons of milk and a sprinkling of sugar, and brush the edges of the dough to seal.

Form into a firm, long sausage shape and seal the ends by folding over the edges and tucking.

Repeat with the other ball of dough.

 Place the 2 loaves on a baking tray that has been sprayed or lined with baking paper. Set aside again to prove (rise); they will swell, but not quite double.

Glaze all over with more of the egg wash and bake at 170°C for 25-30 minutes.



Remove the loaves from the oven and cool

Meanwhile, make a fondant icing by mixing the icing sugar and water to a thick paste.

Apply the paste liberally over the cool bread

Slice your Stollen anyway you like – thick or thin – and enjoy...

Have a great Christmas season

Stollen recipe with pictures

Broccoli Salad Recipe with images

My wife ordered this Broccoli Salad at a Café recently and after much analysis of the ingredients,we think we've come up with a version that is pretty close...

Here's how to make it yourself:

1) In a salad bowl, finely slice red and yellow capsicum

2) take a RED onion and cut it in half
    cut the half onion in half again, and then slice across

3)  finely slice some sundried tomatoes (plain or marinated) and add to the capsicum and red onion mix

4) Add some chopped ham (or if you want a Kosher version, chopped smoked chicken)

broccoli florets

5) Add some broccoli florets that have been dunked in salted boiling water for 2 minutes, then soaked in cold water until cool. Make sure you drain the cool broccoli well...
Another option is to microwave the broccoli for a bit before cooling.

6) Add 3 heaped tablespoons (or more to your liking) of coleslaw mayonnaise.

7) season with salt and pepper, then mix it all together and enjoy with some freshly baked bread of your choice...

If you're making this with smoked chicken, feel free to add a handful of roasted cashew nuts to it as well.



Broccoli Salad Recipe with images