Shortbread

Shortbread's one of my favourite treats, so I was both delighted and disappointed when I found out over Easter just how stupidly easy it is to make. Delighted because of course now I can make it whenever I want. Disappointed because I didn't know sooner. All those wasted years...

Anyway, here's some photos.

Mix 8oz butter and 4oz sugar, then add 12oz plain flour. Allow to stand for 30 minutes.

Roll out to desired shape, about 15-20mm thick. Score the cutting lines, and make holes all over with a fork to stop bubbles forming. Cook for 35-40 minutes at 180°C. It'll still be slightly soft when it comes out so cut it right through before it cools otherwise it'll be brittle and just crumble everywhere. Lightly sprinkle with granulated sugar once cool.

This was supposed to be a picture of the finished product but I don't know what went wrong. Maybe my kitchen caught fire and I didn't notice.

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte

Literally, "Black Forest cherry cake", although Sarah Lee knows it as Black Forest Gateaux. I only baked it because I thought it had a cool name in German. :-)

Sugar and Cookeen. Er, yum? Actually, the Cookeen melts while it cooks and helps make the little bubbles in the cake that make it a bit lighter than it would be otherwise.

Add eggs, vanilla and some buttermilk, then mix in some plain flour, cocoa and baking soda.

Slap it in the oven for 45 minutes.

Cut each cake in half then douse them in kirschwasser - a clear, dry (almost to the point of being bitter) cherry liqueur.

Build up the layers with buttercream and cherries. I hope it turns out ok - I only had glace cherries.

Coat in cream that's been whipped until stiff, add chocolate shavings and some little cream whirls to finish it off. The final cherry on the cake is, er, cherries.

Note to self: Don't use cocoa powder in cream again. It makes it taste a little bitter and gritty. (I should get away with it this time though - there's enough chocolate and sugar in there to mask it).

Edit:

I managed to snap this shot while there was still some left...

Rum and Praline Truffles

I've been cooking again - I finally got a recipe off my brother for some truffles he made over Christmas. Better late than never I suppose...

Melted sugar cooling on a greased, heatproof surface. Add crushed hazelnuts while still heating the sugar if you like. Crush the end result into tiny pieces once cooled.

Four batches of praline. 2 with, 2 without nuts.

Gently melt chocolate over hot (but not boiling) water. Most recipes will tell you to avoid getting water in the chocolate, even to the extent of drying anything used to stir it, because it will seize. We *want* it to seize though. Use hot water, or water with coffee granules dissolved in it.

Yuck. It seized. Add butter and milk next, but be warned, it's gonna get worse before it gets better...

Told you so... This is the white chocolate version and it looks a bit, er, wrong.

Keep stirring it - it'll all combine eventually and make a nice smooth sauce.

Add the praline we made earlier, then cool for 1/4 day.

Four batches of truffle mixture, ready to roll.

Roll the end result into little balls, then coat in chocolate vermicelli, or just dust with icing sugar for a more rustic look. Keep them cool or they'll go a bit squashy. This is showing just half the yield.

Microwave Mishap

I was trying to soften up some butter earlier in the microwave and it seems the high-tech plastic wrapping they use still actually contains some traces of metal. I can speak with some certainty here as I watched the spectacular light show it put on, and pulled out the charred smoking remains of the wrapper once I'd managed to turn the power off.

And just after that I managed to burn myself with some sugar I was melting. I'm not doing very well at the moment.

Real World 2, Pointy 0

Me and DIY Don't See Eye-to-Eye

I seem to have this curse with the physical world, or at least some sort of reverse Midas touch. Anything manual or mechanical I touch seems to break without me even trying.

So, I was quite pleased with myself after spending about 6 hours today sanding and glossing the window frames in my conservatory, having spent about 8 hours last weekend sanding and undercoating.

That was, until just now when I went out there to inspect my handiwork. From a distance I noticed it didn't really have the sheen I was expecting, and as I got closer a curious thought crossed my mind.

"Why has that gloss dried looking like undercoat?"

The answer is, of course, that I've only accidentally gone and put a second coat of undercoat on instead of gloss.

Grrrrr...

Valentine's Cake 2008

Blimey, 2 cakes barely a week apart. This one's a white chocolate sponge cake smothered with a home-made white chocolate cream. Ideal if you like white chocolate, or rubbish if you don't.



It's probably the richest cake I've made so far. I feel a bit queasy having eaten more than my fair share of the leftovers.

I bought the candy flowers, btw. Although I'm planning on trying my hand at sugarcraft at some point...

What's better than cake and shoes?

What's better than cake and shoes? Shoes on a cake, of course!



This was a birthday present for one of the girls in the department I worked in a while ago. They were getting upset because I only started baking after I left there so they've not had any from me yet.

Well now they have.

Next up, Valentine's day...