valentine's day white chocolate and raspberry brownies

valentine's day white chocolate and raspberry brownies

9 Feb 2015

Valentine's Day kind of snuck up on me this year. I looked through my files and found these images I shot last year for my Delicious Bites column. The post failed to run so rather than languish on my hard drive, I thought I'd share the images and recipe with you. 

I've been making these brownies for quite some time now and each time I make them I change the recipe a little. Some times I add a bit more white chocolate or an extra egg. Sometimes I'll add a little less flour or mix up the berries a bit. It's raspberry season here in Sydney so that's what I used this time but you certainly don't need to use fresh raspberries for these brownies; frozen raspberries are just as good.  As fresh raspberries are so delicate, I stud the brownie mixture with the raspberries instead of mixing them into the batter.

If you like, the brownies can be made entirely in one bowl so there's not too much washing up. These brownies are definitely cake like brownies rather than fudgey brownies so don’t be tempted to take them out before they’re fully cooked or they'll just taste like raw cake batter.

Once the brownies are baked and cooled, I often cut them into shapes before drizzling with a little melted white chocolate. I normally use a round cutter but in honour of Valentine’s Day I got busy with my heart shaped cutter. They’re perfect to give as gifts or to share with the ones you love.

Here’s the recipe for you. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Brownies
Ingredients
⅔ cup plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
125g/4 oz unsalted butter
75g (2½ oz) white chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 eggs
½ cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen
¼ cup flaked almonds

To decorate
50 g (1¾ oz) white chocolate, melted

Method
Preheat oven to 350F°/180C°.

Line the base and sides of a 20 cm (8 in) square tin with baking paper.

Sift the flour with the baking powder into a small bowl and set to one side.

Melt the butter and the white chocolate in a large ovenproof bowl in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water.

Allow to cool a little before stirring in the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Beat lightly with a wooden spoon just till combined, then stir the flour into the mixture to make a batter.

Scatter about 1/3 of the raspberries over the base of the tin. Spread the batter into prepared pan. Press the remaining berries gently into the mixture then top with the flaked almonds.

Bake at 350F°/180C° (conventional oven) for 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

When cool, cut the brownies into 2 inch squares or cut into heart shapes before drizzling with the extra melted chocolate.

Allow the chocolate to set before serving.




I'll see you all again next week with the first Plate 2 Plate post for 2015.

Until then, Happy Valentine's Day!

Jillian

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blood orange poppyseed cakes

blood orange poppyseed cakes

29 Sept 2014

Hi Every-one,

I hope you all had nice weekends. I had a quiet weekend at home recovering from a busy week at work. I did quite a bit of cooking, catching up on items for the blog as I'm going to be out of Sydney for the next couple of weekends. When I return the flat is being repainted so I don't know how easy it will be to get into the kitchen. 



Here's the last blood orange recipe for a while. I still have one more item to make but I'm sure you're ready for something else so next week expect something savoury from my kitchen.





I decided to make some little blood orange poppyseed cakes. Initially I was going to make them in muffin tins but I didn't want to use liners and I couldn't be bothered greasing and lining the tins so I decided to use my little loaf tins instead. 




I whipped these up from an old recipe I photographed a few years back. I didn't type up the recipes back then or post them, so the recipe is hand written in an old notebook. It's good to see my styling has improved a bit since then!






The recipe made 4 little loaves and I probably could have squeezed all the batter into the tins but I decided to make a little teeny tiny cake specially for the cook.




The syrup didn't really go far enough so I might make double the quantity next time.



Here's the recipe for you which makes one 16 cm cake, a small bundt or loaf cake or 4 mini loaf or bundt cakes. If you double the mixture it will make an 8 inch cake.

Blood Orange Poppy Seed Cakes 
1¼ cups plain flour 
1½ tsp baking powder
1 tbl poppy seeds
110g (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened 
100g (3½ oz) caster sugar 
Finely grated rind of 1 blood orange 
2 eggs 
¼ cup blood orange juice 

Method 
Grease and flour 4 small loaf or bundt tins. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. 

Sift the flour and baking powder into a small bowl. Stir though the poppy seeds and set to one side. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, orange rind and caster sugar. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs then gradually mix into butter mixture. If the mixture starts to look curdled, add a spoonful of the flour mixture.

Add the remaining flour mixture to the batter alternating with the orange juice to make a soft batter. If the batter looks too thick add a little more juice. 

Spoon the batter into the prepared tins and bake the cakes in the 180°C/350°F oven for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are lightly golden and cakes are cooked when tested with a skewer. Leave the cakes to cool for about 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack. Pour over the blood orange syrup. 

Blood Orange Syrup
1 small blood orange 
⅓ cup caster sugar
⅓ cup water 

Method
Peel the orange and finely shred the peel. Juice the blood orange and set the juice to one side. In a small pan bring some water to the boil, and then cook the peel for 1 minute. Drain the peel and rinse. 

Return the orange rind to the pan with the juice, the sugar and the additional water. Bring the mixture to the boil then simmer until the syrup is reduced by half. If the syrup thickens up a bit you can warm it up again and if you have any left over blood orange juice you can add a tablespoon at this point to freshen up the flavour of the syrup. Pour the syrup over the cooled cake decorating the tops of the cakes with the candied peel.





Serve with a nice cup of tea and enjoy.

Do you remember a few weeks ago I was wondering whether I should rename the blog, delicious bites? I'd like to go ahead and with that I'll need a new logo. I've made some enquiries and the price to redesign the blog and provide a logo is way out of my budget. 

For the first time in 10 years I don't have a regular photography gig so the coffers are bare. I'm planning to use a pre-made template but would like to jazz it up with a new logo. In the past my clever readers have helped me out with my shopshoot logo (many thanks Jess) and I was wondering if there was any-one out there who could help me?

I've an idea of what I want, I just need someone clever who can realise my ideas. If you think you could help, please email me (info at jillianleiboff.com) or leave your contact details in the comments section.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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blood orange meringue tarts

blood orange meringue tarts

22 Sept 2014

Hi Every-one,

another busy weekend has just been and gone. I finally decided on a rug for my living room and I brought it home on Saturday. Sunday I met friends for dinner and took these little blood orange meringue tarts with me for dessert.



They're a slight riff on the lemon meringue tarts I made for decor8 last year. Blood orange is nowhere near as tart as lemon juice, so I've dialed back the sugar content in the curd.



I bought the tart rings from Dehillerin when I was in Paris earlier this year and haven't had a chance to use them until now. They were a bit fiddly to work with but I like the professional look of the straight edge tart shells.



I was a bit worried the meringue might stick leaving me with a sticky mess but thankfully, the tarts come away from the ring without too much effort.



I left the tarts in the fridge for a few hours to set and went up to the shops to post a parcel. Since I was last there 2 weeks ago, the post office has changed locations and is no longer open on Sunday so I came home with the parcel and a new pair of shoes!



Here's the recipe for you and yes, it's all a bit fiddly. I made the curd the day before making the tarts but it's probably a good idea to make the tart shells the day before as well.

Blood Orange Meringue Tarts (makes six 7 - 8 cm tarts)
Crumb layer
2 tsp dry breadcrumbs
2 tsp caster sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Put to one side.

Pastry
110 gm (4 oz) cold unsalted butter, diced
¼ cup icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
¼ cup almond meal
1¼ cups plain flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
Cold water

To make the pastry, combine all the dry ingredients in a food processor with the lemon rind and whiz for a few seconds until well combined and free of lumps. Add the cold butter and whiz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and a little cold water and whiz until a soft dough just starts to form around the blade.

Remove the dough from the food processor and gather the pastry into a ball. You won't need all the pastry for this recipe, so divide it in half and wrap one half in plastic and store in the freezer for another time. Flatten the remaining half slightly before wrapping in plastic and placing in the fridge. Refrigerate the pastry for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Place the remaining dough onto a lightly floured surface (I use greaseproof paper) and roll out thinly with a rolling pin.

Grease six 7 - 8 cm tartlet tins. Cut out circles of pastry large enough to fit the tart shells. Line the tins with the pastry and trim the edges of the tart tins with a sharp knife. Lightly prick the pastry surface with the tines of a fork and return to the fridge for another 30 minutes.

Line the tart shells with muffin liners and fill with pastry weights or uncooked rice. Bake for 15 minutes and then remove paper and weights. Bake for a further 5 minutes or until the tart shells are golden. Take the tart shells out of the oven and sprinkle about ½ teaspoon of the breadcrumb mixture over the base of the warm tart shells. Place the tart shells on a wire rack to cool.

Blood orange curd filling
3 large egg yolks 

Finely grated rind of 1 blood orange and ½ lemon

⅓ cup strained blood orange

30 ml strained lemon juice 

⅓ cup caster sugar

2 teaspoons cornflour
75 gm (3 oz) unsalted butter

 
Place the egg yolks, the rinds, juice, cornflour and sugar into a small bowl and place over a pan of simmering water. Whisk the mixture until smooth. Keep whisking for 10 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter in small batches until incorporated. Set aside to cool. When cool place the curd in the fridge and allow to set. 

Meringue topping
2 egg whites
Pinch cream of tartar
½ cup caster sugar
Additional caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. In a large clean dry bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until thick and gradually add the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time. Beat until the sugar dissolves. Using a spoon, decoratively swirl the meringue over the filled tart shells or you can pipe the meringue, sealing the tarts completely with the meringue. Place the tart shells on a baking sheet and lightly sprinkle a little extra caster sugar over the meringue topping.

Bake the tarts in the preheated oven (190°C/375°F) for 10 minutes or until the meringue is golden brown. If you prefer, you can use a brulee torch to colour the meringue.

Cool the tarts on a wire rack. Once the tarts have cooled return to the fridge for a few hours to allow the filling to firm before serving.

Here's the finished product.



I've a few blood oranges left in the fruit bowl and I was thinking of making either a blood orange poppy seed cake or a blood orange and passionfruit tart to round out blood orange month. 

Any thoughts on which one I should make?

Looking forward to hearing your suggestions.

See you all again next week.

Jillian

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spicy chicken burgers on a light brioche bun

spicy chicken burgers on a light brioche bun

11 Aug 2014

I don't usually buy take away but when I'm on holidays I've been known to order the occasional burger. I'm quite partial to a chicken burger and this month's Gourmet Traveller featured a tasty looking chicken burger recipe from Pinbone. It contained fried chicken, which I can't eat, so when I spied a Curtis Stone recipe for oven fried chicken  I thought I'd give that a go instead.



The list of ingredients I needed was quite long so I went in search of hot sauce, panko breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, onion and garlic powder. 

I was going to buy the bread rolls but when reading one of my favourite food blogs I discovered this New York Times recipe for light brioche burger buns. I simplified the technique considerably, put the dough into the fridge to rise overnight and made these at lunch time.



I already had cheese in the fridge but I needed some lettuce leaves and tomatoes. I bought some mini ox heart tomatoes because they're so sweet and juicy! I thought the perfect accompaniment to the burgers would be some of my faux fries.



Here are the simplified instructions for the brioche burger buns using a stand mixer. I also cut the sugar content considerably.

Light Brioche Bun 
Adapted from Hidefumi Kubota, Comme Ça, Los Angeles 
Time: 1 hour, plus 2 to 4 hours’ rising
Ingredients 

3 cups bakers flour 

1/3 cup plain flour 

1 1/2 teaspoons salt 

2 teaspoons dry yeast 

2 teaspoons sugar 

35 g softened butter 

1 egg, beaten 

1 cup warm water 

3 tablespoons warm milk 

Topping 

1 egg 

1 tablespoon water 

Sesame seeds 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the flours with the salt, dried yeast and sugar. Add butter and rub into the flour.  

Using the dough hook, mix in the beaten egg and the warm water and milk to form a soft dough. Mix for 8 - 10 minutes before shaping the dough into a ball. Lightly grease the bowl and return the dough to the bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours or you can place the bowl in the fridge overnight. The next day bring the dough to room temperature before proceeding to the next step. 

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Divide the dough into 8 - 12 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange 2 to 3 inches apart on the tray. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let buns rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours. 

Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F with rack in centre. Set a large shallow pan of water on the oven floor. Beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water and lightly brush the top of the buns. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake, turning the tray halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Transfer to a rack to cool completely. 

Yield: 8 - 12 buns.

I have to say these burgers were absolutely delicious. I followed Curtis Stone's instructions to the letter using chicken thigh fillets which I'd brined overnight. The buns came out really well and they were soft and tasty. I used the toppings suggested in the Pinbone recipe - cheese, tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise and hot sauce. These little burgers are so good, I think the Colonel may be in trouble!

P.S Here's my final Delicious Bites column for decor8, a recipe for Petal Cupcakes. As the column won't be running anymore what would you think if I renamed my blog Delicious Bites? It would just be a redirection so my current readers wouldn't have to change a thing. It would give me an opportunity to get a new logo and a new look for the blog. 

I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of my idea.

See you all next week,

Jillian

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