Dark Chocolate Semifreddo Recipe

4 oz dark (60-70%) chocolate
3 tbsp super fine sugar
2 eggs, separated (room temperature)
8 oz cream

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments and stir well until melted. Set aside.

2. Whip the egg whites in a medium size bowl, until medium-stiff peaks. Whip the cream to soft peaks in another medium sized bowl.

3. Whip together the sugar and egg yolks in a large bowl, until pale. Scrape the chocolate into the bowl, and whip for several minutes until the mixture is very thick and smooth. Fold in the egg whites and then the cream. Scrape the mixture into a cake pan, loaf pan or individual molds and freeze for at least 4 hours.

4. To unmold onto a plate, dip the bottom of the mold into hot water and then run a knife around the sides. It should pop out easily. Let sit at room temperature (after unmolding) for 15-20 minutes to soften before serving.

Makes 4-6 servings

Note: I used some devils chocolate cake crumbs for the bottom. You can also use crushed cookies, or leave it plain.

Note 2: I served it with my “half-assed raspberry sauce.” About 1/2 c frozen raspberries, a tbsp or so of both sugar and water, microwaved for 1-2 minutes and strained. Easy Peasy.

Note 3: If the yolks and chocolate siezes up on you, gently warm it in a bowl over simmering water and then add a bit of the whites and beat the heck out of it.

(sourced from: http://www.ishotthechef.com/2008/08/18/whip-it-good/)

Roasted Vegetable Lasagne (vegetarian)

Ingredients

Roastable veg, eg: 2 peppers, 1 courgette, 1 red onion, 1 small or 1/2 large aubergine, A few cherry tomatoes
Tomato Sauce
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tin of tomatoes
100ml water
A few fresh basil leaves
A tsp of vecon stock stuff!
White Sauce
40g margarine
40g plain flour
750ml soya milk
8 sheets of lasagne
100g fresh spinach
Olive oil or vegetable oil

Instructions

1) Cut the roast-able veg into appropriately sized pieces (e.g. quarter the peppers, slice the courgette and aubergine lengthways, cut the red onion into chunks), drizzle with oil and roast in a hot oven for about 30 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce. Chop the onion and garlic and fry gently in a little oil until softened. Add the tin of tomatoes, water and vecon/stock. Simmer for about 15 minutes. I blitzed the sauce until quite smooth with a hand blender, but you could leave it as it is.

3) Melt the margarine for the white sauce in a pan. Stir in the flour and cook for a couples of minutes, being careful not to let it brown. Remove from the heat and stir in the soya milk - VERY gradually, stirring in the milk all the time so that it doesn't go lumpy. Bring back to the boil and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened. Season to taste ( I added a tiny bit more vecon and some grated nutmeg).

4) Put the roasted vegetables in a large ovenable dish. Scatter over half the spinach, and layer half the lasagne sheets over the top, making sure that there aren't any big gaps between sheets.

5) Pour the tomato sauce over the lasagne sheets, then scatter over the rest of the spinach and arrange the rest of the lasagne sheets on the top.

6) Finally pour the white sauce over the top, and cook for about 40 minutes at 220ºC/435ºF until the pasta is cooked and the top has browned.

ANZAC biscuits

These oaty biscuits are traditionally made on Anzac Day (April 25th), a New Zealand public holiday which honours and commemorates New Zealand and Australian soldiers who served in the First World War. The biscuits were created during the war, when families wanted to send nourishing treats to their sons and husbands on the front line; the biscuit had to have a long shelf-life so it would be fresh after the long boat trip, and had to be egg-free, as eggs were rationed.

The term ANZAC is protected under Australian law^[5] and therefore the word should not be used without permission from the Minister for Veterans' Affairs^[6]; misuse can be legally enforced particularly for commercial purposes. There is a general exemption granted for ANZAC Biscuits, as long as these biscuits remain basically true to the original recipe and are both referred to and sold as ANZAC Biscuits and never as cookies.

(picture sourced from here)

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup dessicated coconut
1 ½ tsp baking soda
100g butter
2 Tbsp golden syrup
2 Tbsp boiling water

Method;
Combine all dry ingredients except baking soda. Add melted butter. Mix baking soda with boiling water, then add to mixture. Place spoonfuls on a greased tray and cook at 180°C (356F) for 20 minutes. Cool then eat with a cuppa.

Lolly Cake

Lolly cake is a classic Kiwi treat, perfect with a cup of coffee or as an afternoon snack.
It is usually made with Fruit Puffs or Eskimo lollies, which are a sort of hard marshmallow type candy.

(picture sourced from here)

Recipe;
200g butter (about 1.5 sticks)
4 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tin condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 packets malt biscuits/cookies
1 packet fruit puffs/eskimos (180g)
dessicated coconut for sprinkling on top.

Method;
Crush up the malt biscuits until they are quite fine (a rolling pin works well for this) and chop up the eskimos/fruit puffs into roughly 1cm cubes.
Mix these together in a LARGE bowl or saucepan.

Melt the butter, brown sugar, condensed milk in the microwave for a minute or so and mix thoroughly before adding the vanilla essence and pouring this mixture over the biscuit crumbs and lollies.

This is the part I hate the most;
Get your hands in and mix everything together. The mixture needs to be quite sticky so it doesn't crumble when it sets. Mix it all together really well and then either roll it out into two log shapes, spread it out into a slice tray lined with baking paper, or roll into little balls.

Once you have chosen your preferred shape, cover the outside of it in dessicated coconut, wrap in baking paper (if you're making logs) and put in the fridge to set for a few hours. (actually, I lie, the waiting for it to set is just as bad as getting your hands sticky, if not worse!)

Voila!

Slice Blog!

Okay. So I've decided to create a blog dedicated to slice (and other delicious treats) with recipes and whatnot, for future reference if I want to bake something away from home.