Kladdkaka is a well-loved chocolate, gooey cake in Sweden. This cake is so low effort and high satisfaction guaranteed, it’s mad. It’s almost as easy as the eggless, butterless chocolate cake recipe. Mr. G asked if I could look for a recipe that had chocolate and rum in it and that’s how I found Johanna Kindvall’s very lovely blog – Kokblog. What’s so special about Johanna’s blog is that all the recipes are drawn in beautiful lined illustrations. Johanna is a designer who is based in south Sweden and New York city.

I’ve added a teaspoon of cardamom in the recipe because… well, I guess I was curious to see how it’d turn out. Cardamom is a lovely spice I discovered in Sweden. We usually use it in curries back in Malaysia but in Sweden it’s added commonly to bread and pastries. A friend of mine adds a little to her latte when we’re out having coffee and claims that it tastes like chai. Hmmm… I reckon if the Swedes could use cardamom in everything, they would.

Enjoy!

Note: I’ll be away for a week in Paris & London, so, have a great week ahead everybody! Oh, and happy midsummer! (^_^)Y

Kladdkaka ( serves 6 – 8 )
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adapted from Kokblog

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 250 ml (1 cup) muscovado sugar
• 4-6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (of good quality)
• one tsp salt (less if using salted butter)
• 200 ml (7/8 cup) milled almonds
• 4 oz (a touch more than 100g) butter, melted
• 1 tsp ground cardamom (optional)
• 2 tbsp rum
• 1 tbsp icing sugar to decorate

Method:

1. Whisk eggs and sugar together in a bowl.
2. Stir in the milled almonds, cocoa powder and salt. Pour in the butter and stir until smooth.
3. Add the spice (optional) and rum. Pour the mixture into a greased 9” spring form.
4. Bake the cake in the oven at 350 F (150°C) for about 15 minutes. The cake should just be set on top and sticky inside.
5. Let the cake cool off. Sprinkle icing sugar to decorate.

This recipe was first published on Honest Cooking, 4 May 2011.

It’s Swedish midsummer and everywhere in the city, there are strawberry stands. It’s the cutest thing, it’s almost like a lemonade stand. A small table with punnets and punnets of juicy jordgubbar or strawberries. We’ve been recommend to try the local strawberries (versus imported sorts) because at this time of the year it is at its sweetest. Buying seasonal food is a great practice. The fruits just smells and tastes naturally wonderful.

Yesterday when I was strawberry shopping, I couldn’t help but to buy additional berries. We rarely buy raspberries and blueberries in Melbourne because it’s usually pricey. It’s not as expensive here in Linköping so, why not? Berry indulgence is a good thing.

In celebration of Swedish midsummer, I decided to make something with berries for Mr G.’s office fika (afternoon tea). I found this amazing recipe for strawberry crumb bars on Tara’s foodblog Smells Like Home.

I made a mistake when I was making the crumble. I forgot to add an egg to the pastry and freaked out. Fortunately, it turn out to be an interesting discovery. The bottom crust was slightly softer and the butter in the pastry kept it together. And when I brushed a beaten egg on top of the crumble, it came out nice and crunchy. This is my version of berry crumble, so, enjoy!

Midsummer Berry Crumble ( serves 8 )
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adapted from Smitten Kitchen, via Annie’s Eats via Smells Like Home

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 225g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 4 cups (500g) fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
• ½ cup blueberries
• ½ cup raspberries
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• 4 tsp cornstarch
• Juice of 1 lemon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180° C.  Grease a baking tray; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of the sugar, the baking powder and flour.  Mix in the salt and the lemon zest, and stir together with a fork.
3. Cut in the butter with two knives until the largest chunks are about pea-sized.  The mixture should be crumbly without much loose flour.
4. Spread about half of the dough mixture in an even layer over the bottom of the prepared pan and press down firmly to form the bottom crust.
5. In another bowl, stir together the remaining sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice.  Gently mix in the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries with a rubber spatula until combined.
6. Spread the berry mixture evenly over the bottom crust.
7. Add cardamom and cinnamon into the remaining dough and then gently spread it over the top of the berries.
8. Brush the beaten egg over the dough. To make a rustic pattern, gently scrape the top of crumble with a fork.
9. Bake for about 45 – 60 minutes or until the top is slightly golden brown.
10. Cool completely before cutting into squares and serve with yogurt and extra berries.

Enjoy!

We’ve been very fortunate to have good weather wherever we travel. We were in Helsinki, Finland about two weeks back and although it was cool, there was plenty of sunshine. One of the many things I appreciate about traveling is seeing the local produce. I love, love, loveeee going to markets and studying ingredients I have not seen before.

I wish there was a way I could download languages into my brain so I could communicate with the locals - people, grocers, sellers. I’m often so curious about history, culture, food that I’m bursting with questions but the language barrier always intimidates me. Sometimes it gets the better of me and the question just forms outside my mouth before I have the chance to push it back in. I see my curiosity as alive with its own bags of personality.

While we were surveying the market near the ferry terminal in Helsinki, we discovered that a bag (1 kilo) of blueberries sold for 6 euros (about AUD$8). G. and I got very excited (as you can see, we’re pretty simple folks). Being berry fans and berry-deprived, we were beyond ourselves. We bought some lovely sweet cherries too and for the rest of the evening didn’t stop stuffing our faces with fruits.

I told G. that we have to keep some aside to make blueberry-something and voila! Here is the result:

Blueberry Yogurt Cake ( serves 6 – 8 )
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Ingredients:

• 150g butter, softened and cubed
• 155g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 265g (13/4 cups) plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 200g Greek or Turkish yogurt
• 2 x 150g punnet blueberries

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a square 19cm (base measurement) cake pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.
2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and creamy.
3. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until combined.
4. Stir in half the flour and yogurt until just combined. Stir in the remaining flour and yogurt until combined. Add the baking powder.
5. Spoon into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Scatter the blueberries evenly over the top.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
7. Remove from oven and set aside in the pan for 10 minutes to cool slightly.
8. Carefully turn out onto a wire rack. Turn upright and set aside for a further 20 minutes or until cooled to room.

I’ve recently adopted a strange breakfast eating habit. I would get up, grumpily make myself a cup of tea, grunt at G., (on a good morning, I can manage a lopsided smile) and dunk a Digestives or Hobnob into my cuppa. I find myself adopting different eating routines in different countries. I don’t normally have biscuits for breakfast, so I find this slightly puzzling.

I’d noticed I was ploughing through the packet of HobNobs one day and thought, ‘I should really learn how to make this’. In one of my attempts to eat healthier, I bought a kilo pack of oats and had only cooked it twice. Once with bananas, and the other in meatballs (I didn’t have breadcrumbs).  Making HobNobs would be the perfect solution to using the oats up.

I don’t remember where I’ve first had HobNobs. But it would probably be in Malaysia when I was growing up.

Btw, this do you love my new Etsy collection: Sew La Ti Do? You can buy the print as a Mother’s Day Gift, or for that crafty bestie. I just love the rainbow colours, it makes me very happee.

Unfortunately for us, Swedes have not yet heard of golden syrup. They have numerous syrups in store but G.’s colleagues didn’t think it was the same as golden syrup.

The discussion cropped up when I was lunching with G. and his colleagues. Every Thursday in Sweden, it’s popular to have pea soup and pancakes for lunch. You’ll find this dish served in most Swedish restaurants every Thursday. A fact I find to be a little strange. I have never encountered a dish being served every week before. But, come to think of it, I guess it’s the same as a Sunday roast. (Which is also, an odd concept to me. We just don’t do this sort of food routines in Asia.)

Anyway, I replaced Golden Syrup with honey which worked fine but you know, it just isn’t the same. So, if anyone can send me a can of golden syrup, I would be SO grateful for it.

Homemade HobNobs (adapted from Cookie Madness and London Foodie in NY)
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(makes about 20)

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups (85g) rolled oats
• 1 cup (120g) plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 100g butter
• 2 tbsp boiling water

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 °C.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
3. Melt butter and stir in honey (or golden syrup).
4. In a small bowl mix together the bicarbonate of soda and the boiling water and add to the butter mixture.
5. Make a well in the centre of your dry ingredients and add all of the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
6. Form into small balls about the size of ping pong ball and place onto non-stick (or lined) baking trays, leaving 2.5 cm in between each one so that there is room for them to spread.
7. Press them down lightly- they will spread a bit on their own during cooking.
8. Bake in the oven in batches for about 10 – 12 minutes, or until golden all over.
9. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
10. Make a cup of tea. Sit back & enjoy

Happy April Folks! I hope this month will be a happier month for everyone. I’d falsely believed that spring was here until a local guide told me that it’s going to be a long winter this year. Aw boo! Here I was ready to celebrate. No matter, I’ve got some goodies to chase the winter blues. It may be gloomy and grey outside but in here I’ve got flowers, ‘blue skies’, white puffy clouds and most importantly, rum and raisin brownies.

These are the most magnificent tasting brownies ever! You cannot imagine how good it smells when it’s baking. Rum and chocolate is maaaaaaaaddddd. Forget mad, it’s lethal. Thank you Mary Moh of Keep Learning, Keep Smiling for spreading the good joy to this part of the world.

On the Etsy front, thank you all that played the Happee Monkee Yummilicious Postcard Giveaway! The lucky winner to the contest is Fitri of Rumah Manis food blog. It’s been a fun ride and unfortunately, I can’t pick more than one winner. We hope you’ll like the postcards Fitri!

We have more goodies in store. What you see here are the new, hot from the press, photos available on the Happee Monkee Etsy Shop:

• A glowy white tulip print in 5×7 (inches) to celebrate spring!
• Colourful vintage macaron print in 5×7 (inches) will make your wall lonely no more.

Photos are printed on FujiFilm Crystal Archive Paper and will be sent in a bubble-wrapped mailer and protected by a cello bag. If you like the photos in a set, just send me a message via Etsy or email me [mable (dot) tan (at) gmail (dot) com].

Anyway, here’s my adaptation to Mary’s Rum & Raisin Brownies. Enjoy!

Chocolate Rum & Raisin ‘Boozy’ Brownies ( serves
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Ingredients:

• 300g dark chocolate, chopped
• 200g butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup rum (I’d used a 38% alcohol content white rum)
• 4 eggs
• ½ cup caster sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tbsp of cocoa powder to sprinkle on the brownies

Method:

1. Soak raisins in the rum.
2. Combine chocolate, butter and brown sugar into a pot and melt under low fire, stirring constantly. Once the mixture is smooth, set aside.
3. Whisk by hand eggs, caster sugar and salt together in a bowl.
4. Stir the chocolate mixture gradually into the eggs, whisking the eggs as you pour.
5. Add flour, walnuts, rum and sultanas and stir until combined.
6. Pour the brownie batter into a shallow tin lined with baking paper and bake at 180°C for about 15-20 minutes (Drink in the scent yo!) or when a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool, sprinkle with cocoa powder and Eat up! OR …
8. Pop the brownies in the fridge for about 2 – 3 hours to get that chewy gooey center.

Note: If I hadn’t run out of oranges I would have zested an orange and added it into the brownies. Oh yummmm!

I get Chinese food withdrawals when I don’t get enough of it. Of course it doesn’t help to read food blogs, I just get hungrier. I know this has nothing to do with lemons or yogurt, poppy seed or cake. But I really need to get it out of my system.

Actually, it is kind of related. Whenever I have a food craving, I go through a series of thoughts: (1) Is it within immediate reach? If not, then I proceed to the next question (2) Can I cook/bake/make it? If the sort of food is too complicated / I don’t have the resources / I’m too bloody lazy / I do not have the nerves to attempt it, e.g. roast duck; I end up with nothing. It takes a long time before the mood for something else comes along.

And that’s how the poppy seed lemon cake came along. I was craving for citrus and yellow is such a pretty colour for spring, isn’t it? I was smart enough this time to translate poppy seed into Swedish (S: vallmofrö) before I set out the door, but I wasn’t smart enough to read on the package that they were white (S: vita) ones. So that explains why you don’t see the beautiful black poppy seeds.

Don’t worry, they’re in there.

I love yogurt in cakes. Maybe it’s just me, but I often find it makes a cake rather moist and cheese-cakey-like. Well, actually it was an accidental discovery as the recipe asked for cream but I didn’t have any so I used Turkish Yogurt (Which is really nice and widely available in Sweden. It’s creamier plus, not as tart as, Greek Yogurt)

Anyway, enjoy!

xoxo,
Mable

P.S.: Love is… watching a grandparent playing with their grandchild. What does it mean for you?

White Poppy Seed & Lemon Yogurt Cake (adapted from Kitchen Wench)
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Ingredients

• 200g plain flour, sifted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 to4 tbsp poppy seeds
• 200g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 150g caster sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1/3 cup yogurt

Yogurt Glaze

• ¼ cup natural, Turkish or Greek yogurt
• 1 ½ cups icing sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a cake tin with non stick baking paper.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt, then stir in the poppyseeds till combined.
3. Beat the butter with an electric beater till it is pale yellow and creamy (approximately 2-3 minutes, depending on your beater).
4. Add the sugar and beat for another 3-4 minutes or till the sugar is has been completely beaten in and the mixture is again pale yellow and fluffy.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time and make sure to beat well after each addition. If the butter begins to look curdled, it means you have not beaten the mixture for long enough so just keep beating it till it is once again smooth and fluffy.
6. Add the lemon juice and zest and beat till incorporated.
7. Beat in the flour in three additions, alternating with the yogurt, on a low setting till ingredients are only just incorporated (this is to prevent you from overworking the gluten in the batter and getting a tough or extremely domed cake).
8. Scrape the batter into your prepared pans and bake for 40 – 45 minutes, or till a skewer inserted comes out clean.

 

Yogurt glaze method:
Beat the yoghurt in a bowl with a fork till it is smooth and rid of lumps, then stir in the icing sugar a few tablespoons at a time, making sure that each addition is completely stirred in and that all lumps are gone. Allow to sit for a few minutes before dolloping over the cake.

Serve with extra love

I was smiling the whole time while photographing this cake. The sunlight in the background, the cute and colourful bravado behind those words made me happy. And with every happy thought and emotions I felt, I dedicated it to Japan.

Lately, my heart wrenches every time I see the news. My friends are suffering and I wish I can do a lot more. Yesterday, I was looking for a way to send a foods & goods parcel to the families I met in Akita and Yamagata but I was told that the postal systems were down due to poor road access and petrol shortages.

So someone special advised me to do the next best thing — pray for those who are in need and send them happy thoughts. Our good thoughts, prayers, words have powerful ways of helping people. This concept is not a strange one to me, and in fact, I believe very much in it. It may sound random, but I know it works.

Some years back, during a group meditation, the leader of the group told us to direct happy thoughts to a person; a friend, family, someone we knew who could do with some loving. I chose to focus on C., a good friend of mine, who at that time was working in Japan. I noted the time to be somewhere between 9.30p.m. and 10p.m. I was curious, would C. be able to feel anything?

I couldn’t wait to get home and chat with C. via the Internet. I did find her and I asked, without telling her about the meditation, if she felt or thought anything different that day. C. replied out-of-the-blue, on her way home from work, she started thinking about me. I recounted my experience to her and when we compared time, it was within the same window.

There are many instances when I did focus on sending happy thoughts on someone, I later found that the person was also thinking about me.

Believe it or not, what we are thinking right now affects people, near or far.

In one of my recent posts about my travels Kyoto, I’d mentioned about blogger Chika from She Who Eats and her effort to raise funds for Japan. She has generously tied it in with a sakura (cherry blossoms) ingredient giftaway. Kudos to her and many other bloggers on blogosphere for doing whatever they can to help.

Here’s a list of blogs you can go to to contribute. Every bit counts and no efforts are too small:

• bento4Japan
• Rachel of The Pleasure Monger
• Tamami of Coco&Me
• photographer Skye Hohmann

I love what Chika said towards the end of her post:

“There is this old saying in Japanese, “winter always turns to spring”. Even when the life is hard, we will not give up hope and hold out until it gets warm and things ease up. That’s exactly where we stand now, except we must make every efforts to make winter turn to spring.”

Let’s keep our thoughts positive and give hope, love, faith and prayer to those who are in Japan.

Simple Layered Carrot Cake (adapted from Mrs. Multitasker)
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Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• ¾ cup sunflower oil
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2-3 large carrots, grated (I used about 4 small carrots)
• ½ tbsp lemon zest
• ½ cup sultanas

Cream Cheese Filling

• 3 packs cream cheese (600g), warmed to room temperature
• 1 ½ cup icing sugar
• 1 cup of walnuts, chopped finely

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Spray a 9 x 12 inch baking pan (that comes up at least 1-inch on the sides) with nonstick cooking spray, line the pan with baking parchment, and spray one more time over the parchment. Set aside.
2. Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
3. Whisk the oil, brown sugar, eggs together in a large bowl by hand or with an electric mixer.
4. Add the flour mixture and continue whisking till the flour is combined into the mixture.
5. Using a spatula, stir in the grated carrots, sultanas and lemon zest. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean and just slightly moist.
7. Allow cake to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

For the Cream Cheese Filling, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Mix in the icing sugar on low speed and beat till the filling is smooth and free of lumps. Keep the cream cheese at room temperature so it is spreadable.

To Assemble, place a cutting board on top of your cake pan and, gripping the board and pan together securely, invert the carrot cake onto the cutting board and peel off the parchment. Use a serrated knife to cut the cake lengthwise in half. Slice each half into 3 thin layers to get 6 layers in total.

Using a flat spatula, spread about 1/2 cup of the cream cheese filling over the layer. Alternate the cake layers. Press down lightly on each cake layer as it is added so the cake will be compact. Spread the remaining cream cheese on top of cake and sides. Take chopped walnuts and slowly transfer to the four sides of the cake. Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours.

Indulge!

xoxo,
Mable

P.S.: Don’t forget about our own Yummilicious Postcard or 5×5 photo sets Giveaway! Closing date is April 1 2011

I love how that sounds … Fat Tuesday. It’s like the whole world conspired to be allowed for-oh-just-that-one-day to be naughty. This day has many names – Pancake Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday and Mardi Gras. The significance of this day goes as far back as 1000 A.D. and is the last day before Lent begins. Where there is Lent, there is fasting. In preparation for a long week of discipline and penance, one day of pleasure (sugar, fat and eggs) is permissible.

In Sweden and Finland, the day is celebrated with semla or fastlagsbulle. You can find this beautiful, sinful cream cardamom bun as soon as after Christmas which means it should really be called Fat-Winter. But who can blame the Scandinavians? Once you’ve tasted these, you just want it all year round.

I have a confession to make. I made the mistake of waiting too long to get almond paste (S: mandelmassa), an essential ingredient to the making of semla. And that’s where I made my second mistake; I bought hazelnut paste thinking that it would make a good substitute. So, I apologize in advance. As beautiful as these buns appear to be, it tasted very different from what it ought to be. So let’s pretend (humour me) that I did get some almond paste and followed the recipe to the tee.

Please?

Semla (makes 6 tiny ones or 4 regular sized semlas)
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Ingredients:

• ½ tbsp (7g) dried yeast
• 15g unsalted butter
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ tsp cardamom
• 2 tbsp sugar
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp baking powder

Filling and Topping:

• 70g almond paste (S: mandelmassa)
• 1 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp icing sugar

Method:

1. First, melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, add the milk and heat until lukewarm.
2. Put yeast into a bowl and add milk mixture in to dissolve the yeast.
3. Mix yeast mixture together with flour, salt, baking powder, cardamom and sugar.
4. Knead the dough until it becomes smooth.
5. Cover with a cloth and leave the dough to rise for around 1 hour.
6. Separate dough into 6 round balls.
7. Lightly grease some baking sheets, put the buns onto the sheets and allow them to rise for 45 minutes.
8. Beat the egg and use a brush to glaze the tops of the buns.
9. Heat the oven to 190 degrees C and bake the semla for 10 minutes, or until the buns are golden brown.
10. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

To assemble:

1. Cut a circular “lid” off the top of each bun.
2. Use a spoon to scoop out the inside of the bun.
3. Mix together the grated almond paste with the inside of the bun, add milk to make a smooth mixture and use this mixture to fill the hole.
4. Whip the cream and pipe cream on top of the bun filling.
5. Replace the lid of the bun and decorate with icing sugar.
6. Indulge.

 

You know, sometimes there are downsides to being on the road all the time. Noted that this may sound like a complain but I’m going to say, I’m just making a teensy observation.

The apartment in Tokyo had a tiny griller, so I never bothered to bake anything in that. We made do with what we had. For some reason, our lovely apartment in Linköping, hasn’t got an oven and since this is a six-month stint, I refuse to let sleeping dogs lie. One week I spent looking online for a way to manifest an oven in our kitchen, scoured local electrical store but failed to find a suitable toaster oven. I mean, seriously, all I want was a toaster oven and yet it was proving to be pretty challenging to get one in Sweden. We were finally able to get one sent from Amazon UK for under $100, and as of last week, let’s just say, I am a happy camper.

If you’re a woman and a person who loves playing kitchen, you might be able to relate to this. As much as I am fond of the current IKEA kitchen, I miss my stand mixer. I miss having a big-ass oven. I miss my kitchen utensils. And most of all, I miss my styling box.

I realized that I take so much for granted. Things like self-raising flour or vanilla extract is not so easily attainable here. It’s not as simple as going to the supermarket. It requires a bit more research. I’d spent at least 10 minutes in front of the spice rack trying to locate ground cinnamon because it’s called something else in Swedish. But I guess it’s all part and parcel of the adventure, really. It’s proving to be quite an experience.

Anyway, if it’s taught me anything, it is to improvise and be creative (I may also be addicted to online shopping). Since my hand mixer has yet to arrive, my next move it to find recipes that doesn’t require any heavy mixing e.g. cakes. Time to get a little hands-on here.

Found this brilliantly easy and delicious recipe for Apple Walnut Scrolls on Taste.com.au. I couldn’t find self-raising flour, like I said, so I mixed some baking powder (Swedish: bakpulver) into the flour and substituted mix spice with ground cinnamon (S: kanel). I actually thought this would turn out a disaster but I ended up with a tummy full of scrolls. Definitely worth a try!

Apple Walnut & Sultana Scrolls (makes 10)
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Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp melted butter
• 300g (2 cups) plain flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, extra 1 tbsp for brushing
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 60g chilled butter, cubed
• 125ml (1/2 cup) milk
• 65g (1/3 cup) sultanas
• 65g (1/3 cup) chopped walnuts
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Plain flour, to dust
• 1 large (about 200g) pink lady apple, peeled, cored, coarsely grated
• slivered almonds and icing sugar to decorate

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Brush a baking tray with melted butter to lightly grease.
2. Place flour, sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3. Use your fingers to rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4. Make a well in the centre and add the milk and sultanas.
5. Use your fingers to mix until the mixture just comes together. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead for 2 minutes or until smooth.
6. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll out dough into a 25 x 30cm rectangle. Sprinkle with apple and walnuts.
7. Starting from the long side, firmly roll dough into a log. Trim the ends.
8. Cut crossways into ten 2cm thick slices.
9. Arrange scrolls cut-side up, side by side on prepared tray.
10. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle with extra brown sugar and decorate with slivered almonds.
11. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
12. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool.

It really feels good to be home. I’ve been out of action for more than six months and I had to wipe the dust of my Kitchen Aid. Did you miss me? I know my food testers did. 

I have been keeping very quiet about a project I was involved with last year. And now that it’s out I can finally tell you what it is. The project is called Foodies of the World and it’s a compilation of more than 100 recipes from food blogs all over the world.

My favourite blogger, Béa of La Tartine Gourmande has also been featured, alongwith Fig & Cherry, Honey and Jam and, Steamy Kitchen. The book is very, very well done and the photos are simply beautiful (all done by the bloggers). Some of the recipes are just incredible and I’ve already bookmark ones I’m aiming to make. It is indeed a fantastic effort by all us foodies.

You can purchase the book online and for every book sold under Happee Monkee, I will be donating $5 to the Queensland Flood Appeal. I’m not sure if you’ve heard but it’s definitely big news here in Australia. Whilst our summers are usually scorching hot and flaming with bush fires, this year we were hit by massive floods.

Thousands of people lost their homes, livelihoods and, in some cases, family. The tragedy wasn’t just restricted in Queensland but also Victoria — which meant more homes were inundated by the floods. Houses were completely destroyed; covered with mud, rubbish and all sorts of stuff you don’t want and expect to have.

G. and I were stuck in Adelaide when we were due to drive home to Melbourne because the roads were closed. When we took an alternative route, we saw patches of water in paddocks and fast rising waters in rivers. We were redirected at one point because water had totally engulfed a bridge. The following week, things just got worst and it was sheer nightmare for those towns.

With your help, the money raised will go to the flood survivors in Queensland for them to rebuild their lives. So, not only will you get a copy of Foodies of the World, you’ll receive my utmost gratitude and appreciation. And if you’re a great networker, please spread the news to your church friends, local community and book clubs. You can hold dinner parties based on the great recipes in the book and tell your friends how they can help.

In case you missed the link, here it is again, please click: Foodies of the World.

To share with you one of the recipes in the book, first on my list is Sarah Easterling’s Salted Caramel and Toasted Walnut Shortbread Bars. Her blog is called Blue Ridge Baker and she writes from North Carolina, USA.  She describes the bars as, ‘rich, buttery (without being greasy), and almost creamy‘. And I absolutely love them! The bars were gone almost in an instant and I’d definitely make them again.

By the way, this may come a little belated but Happy New Year everybody!

xoxo,
Mabs

Salted Caramel & Toasted Walnut Shortbread Bars (makes 16 squares)
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Ingredients

Crust:

• 130 grams unsalted butter, softened
• 50 grams dark brown sugar
• 25 grams white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 150 grams unbleached white flour

Caramel Topping:

• 85 grams unsalted butter
• 50 grams brown sugar
• 40 grams white sugar
• 1/4 cup agave nectar (Note: I’d used honey)
• 1 1/2 tbsp heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 110 grams walnut, toasted until golden brown and coarsley chopped
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Coarse sea salt, to finish

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190°C.
2. With baking paper, line a square 20cm baking pan so the paper hangs over the edges.
3. To make the crust, cream butter, both sugars and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy – about 2 minutes.
4. Add flour and combine.
5. Press mixture firmly and evenly into pan, prick all over with a fork and refrigerate for 20 mins.
6. Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, or until golden brown, then cool on rack.
7. For the filling, reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.
8. Place butter, both sugars and agave nectar (or honey), cream and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly.
9. Continue to boil for 3 minutes, or until caramel is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
10. Remove from heat and stir in toasted walnuts and vanilla.
11. Pour onto the cooled crust and place in the oven to bake for 10 – 15 minutes, or until it has begun to bubble.
12. Remove from oven and allow to cool. When lukewarm, lightly sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
13. Cool completely before removing from the pan by gently lifting the overhanging paper.