Tag: recipes

Homemade Marshmallow!!!

We made homemade marshmallow using Alton Brown’s recipe (with hazelnut extract instead of vanilla). We built a fire pit out in our woods, and I wanted to make smores.

It got surprisingly thick while whipping it – I was worried that it would get too hard, and I may have stopped whipping it a little too soon.

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The end result, though, was spectacular. For future reference … they melt really quickly over the fire when they’re still fresh. Supposedly if you let them dry for a few days, they toast up better.

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We have a HUGE tray of marshmallows – supposedly they freeze well … so I used maybe 1/10th of them & froze the rest. This might be a lifetime supply … but I’m kind of looking forward to hot cocoa this winter with hazelnut marshmallows!

Anya’s 3rd Birthday Cake!

I have no idea what made me decide to make my first ever angel food cake for Anya’s birthday — so many things that could have gone wrong with such a delicate cake. But eh, what’s life without some risk (well, and I could always make a quick carob “wacky” cake).

Whipped the egg whites and castor sugar – along with some hazelnut extract

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And then very gently folded in the flour mixture — I used a silicon spatula, and I was rather surprised how fluffy the batter was after adding the flour. I was really worried that it would deflate. The batter is incredibly sweet — it’s basically sugar suspended in whipped egg white and enough flour to keep it together. Uncooked, it tastes a little like spun sugar.

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Then I very carefully scooped it into a bundt pan (yeah, wrong kind of pan … but I didn’t have time to get the proper pan posted to me after I realized it wasn’t something you could just buy anywhere). Very gently placed the pan in the oven, and left the vicinity for an hour.

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Voila! We got an angel food cake! It is a super sweet cake, but it went very well with the lemon curd (which also used all of those egg yolks left over after making the cake!).

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And it was very tasty!

Anya’s 2nd Birthday Cake

This year, I made a parsnip cake for Anya’s birthday tea.

  • 175g butter , plus extra for greasing
  • 250g demerara sugar
  • 100ml maple syrup
  • 3 large eggs
  • 250g self-raising flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp mixed spice
  • 250g parsnips , peeled and grated
  • 1 medium eating apple , peeled, cored and grated
  • 50g pecans , roughly chopped
  • zest and juice 1 small orange
  • icing sugar , to serve
  1. Heat oven to 180 C.
  2. Grease 8″ round cake pans and line the bases with baking parchment.
  3. Melt butter, sugar and maple syrup in a pan over gentle heat, then cool slightly.
  4. Whisk the eggs into this mixture, then stir in the flour, baking powder and mixed spice, followed by the grated parsnip, apple, chopped pecans, orange zest and juice.
  5. Divide between the cake pans. Bake for 25-30 mins until a toothpick inserted into the thickest part comes out clean.
  6. Allow pans to cool on a wire rack for ten minutes.
  7. Turn cakes out of pans and set on wire rack until completely cooled.

This cake is topped with mascarpone (250g tub) mixed with a little maple syrup (3 tbsp).

 

Tofu Bánh Mì Chay Recipe

Ingredients:

One 14-ounce package extra-firm tofu
1.5 cups of shredded carrots
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons palm sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
Sriracha sauce
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1.5 teaspoons black pepper
Fresh baguettes (
English cucumber, shredded

Method:

1. At least one day before you plan to make the sandwiches, cut the tofu into slices and pat dry. Freeze the tofu overnight, then thaw it in the refrigerator. Once it has thawed, squeeze it dry again.

2. Combine the carrot, 2 tablespoons of the vinegar, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, and a large pinch of salt in a medium bowl; cover and refrigerate while you prepare the other ingredients.

3. Whisk together the oil and a few drops of Sriracha (personal taste how much) in a small bowl.

4. Put 1 tablespoon of palm sugar and 1 tablespoon water in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Cook, shaking and swirling the pan occasionally (but not stirring), until the sugar is mostly melted and golden brown. Slowly drizzle in the soy sauce, then add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thawed tofu and the black pepper and cook, turning the tofu occasionally, until it has absorbed most of the sauce, about 15 minutes.

5. Split the baguette horizontally with a bread knife.Spread the Sirachah mixture on the bottom half of the baguette, and top with the tofu mixture, the carrot mixture, and the cucumber.

Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf French bread (~16 ounces)
  • 8 large eggs
  • 1.5 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1.5 cups milk
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • Dash salt

Directions

Slice bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup, fresh fruit, and fresh whipped cream.