Recipe for the new year!

Okay, here's a recipe which you need to try sometime this year - you've got a whole 366 days to give it a go!


Chocolate Slice
125g butter melted
395g can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut
2 tablespoons cocoa
Block of Roast Almond Chocolate


Mix all of the ingredients - except the block of chocolate - together and smooth evenly into a greased 20 x 30cm slice tin.


Roughly chop the block of chocolate and press into the mixture.

Bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes (no longer as it needs to be a bit chewy).

Don't blame me if you eat too much! :)

White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies

I had some visitors for morning tea today and to use up the time between telling my toddler that they were coming and the visitors arriving, I made these biscuits!  (2 1/2 year olds don't have much patience!)


They're really easy to make and as the recipe shows, the mix makes a great gift when packaged in a cute little jar.  You can download the recipe here.

This photo is from the taste.com.au website

Just to prove that I made them, here is a picture of the biscuits!  They're not all that pretty, but they taste good! :)

White Chocolate, Raspberry & Macadamia Slice

I've found it!  My 'recipe of the season'.  You know, the recipe that you'll make over and over again for Christmas gatherings, meetings, visits from relatives, those days when you've spent too much money, so you decide to go home and have coffee instead of dropping into a cafe...


This is a winner, because it keeps for a few days (and gets better with age), and freezes really well too!  And it's ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!  (And healthy - it's got fruit!)

White Chocolate Raspberry and Macadamia Slice
Ingredients:
125g butter, chopped
200g white chocolate, chopped (I used Nestle Melts)
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 eggs beaten lightly
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup self raising flour
100g white chocolate, chopped (extra) (I used Nestle white Choc Bits)
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, toasted and chopped coarsely
150g fresh or frozen raspberries (don't thaw if frozen)
Icing sugar, to dust

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Grease a 16cm x 26cm slice tin.  Line with baking paper.
3. Combine 200g chocolate and butter and melt in the microwave.
4. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in rest of ingredients.  Add frozen raspberries last.
5. Spread mixture in pan.  Bake in moderate oven for about 50 minutes or until firm.
6. Cool in pan (if you don't let it cool first, it will fall apart)
7. Cut and dust with icing sugar.

Keep stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Shortbread Stars

One of the best parts about Christmas is the food - and I love Christmas baking! Most shortbread recipes call for rice flour, but this recipe from my mum makes it too easy to whip up a batch from ingredients I have in my kitchen every day!

Shortbread

Ingredients (makes about 75 biscuits):

1/2 pound (225g) butter, softened

3/4 cup caster sugar

2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup cornflour

Cachous for decorating

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

2. Mix butter and sugar together.  It doesn't need to be creamed, just given a bit of a workout.

3. Add sifted flour and cornflour and mix to combine.  At this stage, the mixture will be quite crumbly.  Using your hands to mix and knead the dough will help warm up the butter and get the dough to come together.

4. Roll dough out to a thickness of about 5mm.  Remember, this isn't a 'stretchy' type of dough, it just needs to be kind of pressed together (that's what makes it melt in your mouth!).  Cut out shapes and use a knife to transfer biscuits to a baking-paper-lined trays.

5. Decorate with cachous (little silver/coloured sprinkles) as much as you like.  Place trays in oven for 10 minutes or until biscuits start to turn brown.

6. Remove from oven and let biscuits sit on trays for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Quickly give them away as gifts!  Otherwise, you might eat too many when you sit down with your next cup of tea!

Tim Tam Truffles

I was talking to my sister earlier today as she prepares for a fundraising event in Hahndorf, SA, this weekend (500 women for a Girls' Night Out - wish I could be there!). One of the highlights is a 'High Tea' and I mentioned this recipe for Tim Tam Truffles that I made a few times after winning a year's supply of Tim Tams in 2009 (how lucky am I!?).  I didn't have the ingredients to make the truffles today, but instead took a photo of my super truffle-dipper which I love!

And here's the recipe:


Tim Tam Truffles
Ingredients:
200g packet Tim Tams
395g can sweetened condensed milk
100g milk chocolate, chopped
180g milk or dark chocolate, chopped (for coating truffles)

1. Crush biscuits into fine crumbs in a food processor or blender.  Transfer to a large bowl.
2. Heat condensed milk and 100g milk chocolate in a small saucepan on low, stirring, until chocolate has melted.  Pour over biscuit crumbs and mix to combine. Chill for 10 minutes to firm slightly.
3. Line a tray with non-stick baking paper.  Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls.  Place onto tray and chill for 2-3 hours to set.
4. Melt remaining milk chocolate in a microwave on MEDIUM for 2-3 minutes, stirring after each minute until chocolate is smooth.  Line a wire rack with non-stick baking paper.  Dip balls into melted chocolate to coat and place on rack to set.  Chill truffles in an airtight container for up to 1 week.