The Hangry Chef

I have finally decided to try my hand at Croissants, they have always daunted me for some reason. It's probably because I'm not a one for patience, which is one of the main ingredients in croissant-making. I've rarely made puff pastry, opting for store bought every time. I'm not proud to admit it, but I'm just not interested in spending such a huge amount of time laminating dough (you know, all the folding of the butter in the dough so you get all the layers required in a good puff). But I'm conquering my fears and making croissants which uses the same technique of laminating dough, with the added fun of using a yeast-risen dough (yay more waiting). So here goes my first attempt at croissants... I was already worried when the recipes I looked up online told me that I definitely WOULD NOT get these right the first time. Well, thanks for the vote of confidence guys! I feel like maybe this doesn't apply to me seeing as these recipes are targeted at at-ho...

A few simple steps and you can have yummy banana bread, you can slice this loaf up, wrap it up and freeze it for lunch boxes or eat it all in one go! You will need... 3 ripe bananas 2 eggs 1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup margerine 3/4 cups caster sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp bicard soda 2 cups plain flour Method... 1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius, grease and line a loaf tin. 2. Peel all the bananas, mash two in a bowl using a fork, and slice the other banana lengthways and set aside to place on top of the banana bread. 3. Sift all dry ingredients together into a bowl. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the eggs, add the milk and mashed banana. 4. Melt the margarine in the microwave and set aside to cool. 5. Form a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients slowly while mixing with a wooden spoon, stir well to make sure there are no lumps then finally add the melted margarine and stir to combine well. 6. Pour the batter into the pr...

This is a great afternoon snack or morning tea. You can make it a day or two ahead, and wrap it up nicely for lunch boxes or to serve with a nice cup of tea to fend off three-thirtyitis. You will need... 250gr packet of Arnott's Marie biscuits 2 Tbsp desiccated coconut 125gr unsalted butter, melted 2 tins sweetened condensed milk 3 lemons, zest and juice 4 eggs, room temperature, separated 3/4 cup of caster sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract extra desiccated coconut Method... Grease and line a 25x15cm (roughly) lamington or slice tray. Combine the biscuits and 2 Tbsp desiccated coconut into a food processor. Blend until biscuits become a fine crumb. Add the melted butter and pulse until combined. Spoon biscuit base into the prepared slice tray and press firmly with your hands to form an even base. Place in the fridge for 1 hr. To make the filling, combine egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and lemon rind with 3/4 cup of lemon juice. Pour filling onto base and pop i...

This is my first post of the new year! I thought I'd kick off with some of the wonderful goodies I prepared over the Christmas break- and this was one of my favourites! It's only evil because it's THAT good that you can't stop eating it and you don't realise how much you've had until you have a sore belly and feel like you're about to have a food baby... It's evilness is definitely counteracted by the fact that you can be a social hostess with this dessert, it's made the day before so you can sit back and enjoy it with your guests. You will need.. For the cream... 3 eggs, separated 2/3 cup of caster sugar 1 vanilla pod 250ml of thickened cream 250gr soft mascarpone cheese For the filling... 250ml strong black coffee 100ml Kahlua Coffee Liqueur (you could use Tia Maria if you prefer) 100ml Bailey's Irish Cream 1 plain chocolate sponge cake, un-filled, about 300gr worth* 1 cup thickened cream 1 cup dark chocolate for melting** ...

This is an easy winter warmer, I know winter has now come to a close, but the nights are still a bit chilly and this is a nice dessert to quickly whack on to cook while you're eating dinner. You will need... 2 cups of milk (500ml) 300ml pouring cream 1/2 cup of medium grain rice (either arborio or calrose work fine), rinsed and drained 1/2 cup caster sugar 1 cinnamon quill (I used Cassia bark, which is in the same family but has a spicier, more pungent flavour, I only put the quill in while boiling the milk, and removed it before placing in the oven so the flavour wasn't too intense) 1 vanilla bean, split 2 egg yolks some freshly ground nutmeg custard and banana to serve Method... 1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius, grease a 1Lt capacity baking dish. 2. Bring the milk and cream to a simmer, with the sugar, vanilla bean and cinnamon. Stir, then add the rice. Cook for 1 minute on low, then set aside for 2 minutes to infuse. Carefully remove ...

I received Herman two weekends ago. Herman Day 1 Herman is a sourdough cake with a history dating back around 40 years. The base is made up of yeast, flour, milk and sugar. and basically, the idea is to pass the uncooked sourdough cake mixture around amongst friends and family. Each person that receives a batch of Herman, needs to stir and feed him intermittently on a 10 day cycle. On day 9 Herman can be divided into 4 portions, shared with three other people. The fourth portion is reserved and baked according to recipes that can be sourced online (or made up if you're feeling creative!) Herman Day 5: Herman has been fed and the yeast is growing and developing! A more in-depth description of the process of how to care for and cook Herman can be found here: http://www.hermanthegermanfriendshipcake.com Once I had divided my mix, I passed on two of the Hermans to my friends, and kept two portions for myself, one of which I baked on day 10 and the other I kept to start the...

http://nutritionstripped.com/dark-chocolate-avocado-mousse/ I guess I was a skeptic too when I saw this recipe. I'm definitely a purist when it comes to most traditional recipes but truth be told I do like to try 'healthier' versions of recipes as long as it doesn't impact on the flavour of the dish too much. But trying this dairy-free avocado mousse has got me sold on this alternative to thickened cream and egg whites. It still has that decadent richness of dark chocolate and the creamy smooth texture you expect from any mousse. Try it for yourself, you won't be disappointed! You will need... 2 ripe avocados, room temperature 3 Tbsp maple syrup (or rice malt syrup if you prefer) 1/2 fresh vanilla pod or 1/2 tsp vanilla paste 1/3 cup coconut cream, room temperature 1/4 cup cocoa powder 150gr dark good quality chocolate (70% cocoa works well for this recipe, you can use a vegan chocolate if you want to keep the recipe full vegan) Method... 1. Cut the avocados...

I took inspiration for these yummy biscuits from the Greek biscuits 'Kourabiethes'. They are nutty and sweet with a citrus-floral flavour that is to die for. They were easy to make as I whipped them up in the food processor and rested them in the freezer for 5 minutes before baking (usually shortbread needs to rest for a while in the fridge but I was under a time crunch). You will need... (makes about 30 biscuits) 250gr unsalted butter, cold and roughly cubed 160gr caster sugar 1 cup of natural almonds 2 cups plain flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp rosewater zest of one orange Method... 1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. Line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper. Place the whole almonds on one tray, and toast in the oven for 5 minutes or until you can start to smell them roasting. Remove the almonds from the oven and transfer to a food processor. Keep the tray lined and set aside for when you want to bake your biscuits (this will minimise washing up...

Not bad for a pantry raid! I felt like making a cake on Saturday afternoon but seriously had zero motivation to put real pants on and go to the shops to buy any ingredients so it was kind-of a 'use whatever I have in the pantry' job.  I had a bit of a rummage and came out with some tinned sliced peaches in syrup that had been in there for as long as I can remember (still in date though so it can't have been that long!) and a tin of coconut milk... as I had used the last of our fresh milk making the must-have morning flat whites. In the fridge I found some eggs, vanilla and butter, and I pulled out my other pantry staples of flour and sugar. That was it! I had the basic necessities for a glorious cake! I ended up looking for a basic cake recipe and improvising as I went along and luckily enough the thing turned out super moist, the texture was an absolute winner! The only mistake I made was having the oven up a bit too high and I ended up over-browning the s...

It was Father's Day on Sunday and my brother-in-law is a bit of a grill/smoker aficionado. He and his partner have a passion for cooking and they dedicated a whole day to making a smoked feast for my father-in-law on his special day. Following recipes on Franklin Barbecue: A Smoking Manifesto , they made pulled pork, beef short ribs and brisket. All smoked to perfection (needless to say I was in a food coma by 1pm). To tie in with their Texan-style barbecue, I thought I'd do some dessert. And what would a good ol' southern style bbq be without a pecan pie? I did a bit of online research and I came across this recipe for a wonderful sour cream pastry for the base (it was so crumbly and delicious!) and I used it with a Martha Stewart Pecan Pie Recipe . I made some small adjustments, like using half pecan pieces and half pecan halves (just to give it some different textures), and I supplemented the corn syrup, which is a bit hard to come by in Australia, with golden sy...

Image and recipe from taste.com Or Doughnuts, depending on which side of the world you live on? Everybody loves a donut, what's not to love about what is essentially a deep-fried cake.. Covered in sugar, cinnamon, frosting.. Sometimes filled with cream or jam or custard.. DROOOOL! Ok so, most of us buy them from those brightly coloured stores with neon lighting, and why wouldn't we? They're cheap and easy and usually pretty fresh(ish) (if you're lucky). But what if I told you that donuts aren't really that hard to make? Really, there's not much to them! I grabbed this recipe from taste.com and halved it for the batch that I needed. They were delicious! The least you can do is try for yourself, and you'll realise that you can have freshly fried donuts every day if you like! You will need (makes 10 regular sized donuts)... 245gr plain flour 28gr caster sugar 1.5 tsp dried yeast pinch salt 125ml milk 100gr butter 3 egg yolks Vegeta...