Valentine's Cookies

While I am making cookies for a Wild Life Themed birthday party on Saturday, I thought I would make Valentine's cookies for the family.

Iced  cookie

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
340g softened butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1t vanilla
5 cups sifted flour
2t baking powder
1t salt

Method
This recipe can be halved

1) In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2) Beat in eggs one at a time
3) Beat in vanilla
4) Add dry ingredients
5) cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Over night would be better
6) Preheat the oven to 190°C
7) Roll out the dough +/- 1cm thick
8) Cut out shapes and place on ungreased baking sheet
9) Bake for 6-8min

Tip: If you are making different shapes, try and bake the same shapes together as the smaller shaped will bake quicker and possible burn.

Cookie Glaze

Ingredients

1 cup icing sugar sifted
2t milk or water
2t corn syrup

Method

1) Using a whisk stir together the sugar and milk. be careful not to add too much milk. The mixture should not "tear" as you stir it but it should not run off the whisk either.
2) Add corn syrup and mix well. The consistency should be like cold honey. when it runs off the whisk it should take 4-6 seconds to smooth out.
3) To colour your icing hold back 1/2t milk. Separate the amount of icing you will need and begin adding your food colouring a little at a time. Be careful not to add too much as it will make your icing too thin. Rather have icing that is too stiff, it is easier to thin.
4) Using a piping nozzle and bag pipe a boarder around the cookie, Immediately fill the center with icing so that the icing blends.
5) Leave the icing to dry over night.
6) decorate your cookies as you wish with edible markers or paintbrush and food colouring.


Here in South Africa we can't buy corn syrup. So often I come across a recipe that calls for corn syrup. You can use golden syrup but it is very dark. If you want white icing you have to use corn syrup. So I decided to make my own.

Here is the recipe I used, minus the corn. http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2012/02/homemade-corn-syrup-you-can-use-in.html
It came out perfectly and did not stain my icing.

Wild Life Cookie

Tux cookie

Wedding dress cookies

Vintage tea pot cookies

Oriental Sticky Pork

I know this is not a confection, but my Mom asked me for the recipe and I thought I would share it with everyone  This recipe takes time, but it is well worth it. I think I got it off a TV show when we were living in the UK, but not too sure.

Ingredients
450g pork belly
4T dark soy sauce
1t grated fresh ginger
1t ground cinnamon
1t castor sugar
3T rice wine vinegar

Method
1. Cut pork into 2.5cm cubes. Place skin-side down in a non-stick pan. Sprinkle with soy sauce and 1T water.
2. Add ginger and cinnamon
3. Cover and turn on heat. As soon as it starts to boil, turn don the heat and cook gently for 45min.
4. Turn meat sprinkle with sugar and rice wine.
5. Cover and cook slowly for 45 min. Turn once or twice during this time

Serve with steamed veg and rice.

Enjoy!

The Year of the Caramel Cake

We are 3 weeks into the new year and all my orders so far have been for caramel flavoured cake. The smell of caramel is quite heavenly, it is too good not to share.

So here is my version of a Caramel cake

Ingredients
Sponge cake
4 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup white sugar
5ml caramel essence
280ml cake flour
125ml hot water
125ml oil (not olive oil)
2t baking powder

Syrup
150ml water
150g castor sugar
5ml vanilla essence

Method
Sponge cake
1. Pre-heat oven to 180ºC.
1. Beat egg yolks and sugar until light and creamy
2. Add caramel essence and beat again. scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl
3. Mix the boiled water and oil together.
4. Add water, oil and flour to eggs and sugar, beat well
5. Fold in the baking powder very gently.
6. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter
7. Pour mix into 2 greased tins and place in the centre of oven
8. Bake for 25-30 min

Syrup
Place all the ingredients into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Simmer until all the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Allow the cakes to cool for 10 min then using a pastry brush, brush them with the syrup. remove sponges from the tins and allow to completely cool on wire racks.

Butter-Cream Frosting
Whip up a batch of my butter-cream frosting. Add 2 table spoons of tinned caramel to the mixture and beat well.
Sandwich together the two cakes with 1/3 of the butter cream. With the remaining 2/3 butter-cream cover the sides and top of the cake.

To decorate, pip rossetts of caramel onto the cake.

Alternatively, sandwich the two cakes with a layer of caramel.

Basic Butter-Cream Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 cup(113g) butter/baking margarine 

450g icing sugar

15ml milk

5ml vanilla essence

Method

1. Beat the butter until it is light and fluffy

2. Gradually add icing sugar and milk one at a time. 

3. Add vanilla and beat very well

This makes enough for a sandwich cake. I usually double it up and freeze what I don't use. It will keep for about 3 months in an air-tight container.

Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am posting this recipe for a very special friend. She has been asking me for ages to send it to her so I thought I would post it here for everyone to see.
Enjoy!

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1T brandy/vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2t bicarbonate soda
1 sm slab white chocolate finely chopped
1 cup chopped cranberries

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 175ºC/375ºF and grease cookie sheets
2. Cream butter, brown sugar and white sugar together until smooth.
3. Beat in the egg and brandy
4. Sieve flour and bicarb together and stir into butter mixture
5. Add chopped chocolate and cranberries to the cookie dough ( I put chocolate and cranberries into the     blender)
6. Drop spoon of the dough onto the baking sheets. Leave plenty of space between the cookies as they do spread
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes
8. Allow to cool for a minute before you move them to the cooling rack