Nicola's Sticky Gingerbread

I LOVE ginger! It’s one of my favourite flavours. It’s right up there with vanilla and chocolate for me. As Christmas is only a matter of weeks away, I thought I would share this. My husband isn’t such a huge fan of Ginger (one less person to share with I guess) its a pity that my children enjoy it though, I have to share with them.....

This recipe is courtesy of a dear friend of mine from High School - Nicola. She was given this recipe from her Grandmother. This recipe is actually called “Parkin” and Ginger bread doesn’t get any more traditional than this recipe.

This cake is not to be made and eaten the day its prepared. This cake should be made at least 1 - 3 days before you want to serve it. The longer you leave it, the stickier it will become. You can serve it on its own or with lashings of fresh butter. Both are recommended!  It's due to the waiting time of letting the cake "develop in flavour" that makes this cake utterly wonderful to serve for events and gatherings.  You can make it a few days in advance, forget about it and serve.

I wish I had been aware of this recipe when pregnant with my babies. I suffered from severe morning sickness with all 4 pregnancies (when I say severe, I mean severe. I was recommended to go to hospital and have a drip it was so bad). Many have claimed that ginger has been known to help with this ailment - as I don’t plan on having another baby to test this cake on morning sickness, if you have a friend who is suffering from this condition, why not test it out on her and let me know how it went?

I add finely chopped Buderium ginger (crystalised) to my batter. I love the small jewels of ginger that give you a burst of flavour and texture. A word about the batter - it is very thin and liquid like. This is normal. Please don’t add any extra flour, this high liquid content is what gives this recipe the wonderful stickiness that I crave. To maintain the sticky moistness: keep each loaf wrapped in grease proof paper, then aluminum foil and in an air tight container.  Any air will cause the cake to go hard and will lose all that wonderful stickiness.

Recipe

225g butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup treacle
1 1/2 cup plain flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons powdered ground ginger
1 cup warm milk
2 teaspoons bicarb soda
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup finely chopped ginger

Pre-heat your oven to 170oC (355oF).

Grease and line 3 loaf tins. If your loaf tins are slightly larger, than only grease and line 2.
In a sauce pan, melt the butter, brown sugar and treacle together and set aside to cool slightly.
In a bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon and ginger. Use a whisk to air-ate the flour mixture.
Warm the milk and add the bicarb to it.

Pour the milk mixture and eggs into the flour mixture and stir well to combine.
Add the finely chopped ginger and the slightly cooled buttery solution.
Stir well.

Pour the mixture evenly into the prepared tins and pop into your pre-heated oven.
Bake for 45-55 minutes, don’t just touch the top of the cake to see if it’s cooked, use a toothpick to check that it’s cooked.
Let sit on a wire rack for 15 minutes to cool slightly.

Remove from the tin, but keep the grease proof paper attatched to each loaf.
Cool completely then wrap in more grease proof paper (so that each loaf is completely covered), then fully wrap that in foil and pop into an air tight container (such as Tupperware) and leave for 1 - 3 days.
Slice and serve with or without butter OR with caramel sauce and ice-cream as an after dinner treat.

Happy cooking!
Elizabeth x

Chocolate Caramel Layered Brownies

This is an ode to Brownies!  Brownies are what I'm known for among my friends and the teachers at school.  My kids love them and I have never met anyone who doesn't like them.  This take on my standard Brownie recipe and is perfect for dessert (served hot with ice-cream and syrup) or as a special treat for a friend or teacher.  With Christmas not that far away (don't say I didn't warn you!) these make a wonderful gift: friends, teachers, neighbours and so on.  Who doesn't love a home made gift?  And yes, these look as good as they taste.

When Halloween is happening I buy bulk chocolates and store them away for baking.  I personally like Snickers bars and Mars Bars (Milky Ways in North America).  There are so many things you can make with them.  This recipe is just one.

Recipe:

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs at room temp.
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 1/4 cups flour (a bit extra than normal due to the caramel layer)
500g (just over a pound) of jersey caramels or soft camels
12  snack size Snickers or Mars bars, each sliced into 3 or 4
1/2 cup mini choc-chips

Pre-heat your oven to as hot as it will go. Prepare a 18x28 cm (9x12 inch) baking tray by greasing it and lining with baking paper.
Place the caramels in a microwave safe bowl and set aside.
Open and slice the Snickers bars and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and eggs until thick and creamy (about 3-5 minutes).
Add in the cocoa powder and the flour and beat again for a further couple of minutes.
While this is happening, melt your caramels in the microwave (cook in 30 second increments, stern well after each until melted)
Pour 2/3 of the mix into the bottom of the prepared tin.  Pour all the caramel over the brownie dough and work to get a little bit everywhere, don't go right to the edges as they will burn and be hard to get out of the pan.  One last thing - work fast!  I use a fork to do this.
Using a spoon, drop small mound-fulls of dough over the caramel layer.  Use your fork to connect the mounds of dough to make a thin layer.
Drop the Snickers over the top, then sprinkle with the mini choc-chips.
Place into the prepared oven and reduce the heat to 180oC (375oF) and bake for 32 minutes.
Leave in the pan to cool completely, once cold slice into squares or rectangles.
Store in an airtight container such as Tupperware or wrap to give away as a gifts.

Happy Cooking!
Elizabeth x

Pizza Pockets in 5 Minutes!

My children love Pizza - don't all kids though?  If I'm being honest, so does my husband. These pizza pockets are fast, delicious and has much less fat than a "real pizza" or pre-packaged commercially made pizza pockets you find in the freezer section of your grocery store.

With only a handful of basic ingredients that you probably already have on hand, these can be created in mere minutes.  Use extra or alternative fillings to what your family prefers or what you have on hand.  Such ingredients might include: mushrooms, capsicums (peppers), onions, salami, olives or any other pizza fillings that's your favourite.

I make my own basic pizza sauce (recipe is included) but if you have a bottle of opened pasta sauce (Napoli/Marinara) that would work a treat too.  This recipe makes 4 pizza pockets, I slice each into 3, yielding 12 slices.

Recipe:

2/3 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
14 teaspoon garlic powder
8 slices of ham (I like the shaved ham as it heats through faster)
1 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese
4 flatbreads, lavish breads, pita bread or tortillas

In a medium sized bowl, combine the tomato paste and the herbs. Stir well to combine to make a super fast pizza sauce.
Lay the 4 breads out and divvy up the pizza sauce equally between them.  Spread the sauce only over the bottom  half of the flatbreads.
Lay the ham and cheese over the top.  Fold each in half awaiting cooking.
Heat your sandwich press (you could use a frypan, flipping the pizza pocket to cook each side) lay the pizza pocket on the press and pull down the top.
Cook until the button turns green or red (to indicate that the pizza pocket is cooked) OR you can hear the slight sizzle of cheese melting.
Use a spatula to remove from the sandwich press and add the next one and repeat the process.
Cut each hot pizza pocket into 3 and enjoy.
Caution - these babies are hot!  Melted cheese can burn mouths.

Happy Cooking!
Elizabeth x