Get Baked: Gingerbread Men

What would Christmas be without gingerbread men, honestly? Well.. just a day that we overeat and give gifts really, but that's beside the point.

I whipped these up the other day using this recipe and in the spirit of Christmas, gave most of them away to friends (mostly so I wouldn't eat them all myself!)

This is probably the best gingerbread recipe I've used so far, and next year I'm definitely going to attempt a house from scratch :)

Get Baked: Adriano Zumbo salted caramel macaron mix review

 So the other day I finally tested out the Adriano Zumbo macaron mix that's been sitting in my pantry for about 6 weeks. From memory, they are easier than the Donna Hay mix I've tried before (just add water!... and maybe a bit of butter) and definitely more 'beginner/lazy person friendly'.

In the box: salted caramel mix, almond flour mix, icing mix, cardboard ring for tracing and 2 piping bags. This is definitely a big plus in my books- the one pain in the ass thing about making macarons is getting them the same size to be able to pair them up, so marking out the sizing on baking paper and being able to pipe them out instead of dolloping them out using a spoon makes this a heck of a lot easier.

I had a bit of a giggle at the fact that Adriano knows that there will be some screw ups. The instructions say that the mix will allow you to pipe at least 40 cases.... then pick your best 30 and pair them up. I was like screw that, these things are so delicious I'm pairing up the crappy ones too.

The first batch I put in the oven looked pretty good aside from the fact that for some reason (probably the heat distribution from the fan... or whatever) that the cases only developed 'feet' on one side. Also, looks can be deceiving; I baked these for 14 minutes since I didn't want to burn them (instructions say 14-18minutes) but after letting the cases cool and attempting to remove them, half of the filling was left on the paper and I had 2 batches of almost hollow shells (oh well, more room for that sweet, sweet icing).

Below is what happens when you pipe out your cases, remember you have to go have coffee with someone, put them in the fridge and then pop them in the oven over 2 hours later. They don't rise evenly, and basically turn out looking like mini volcanoes. So I don't recommend doing that. But again, so tasty it doesn't matter.

Finished product above. All in all I think I made about 20 or so (including all the misshapen ones). They are super tasty and keep well in the fridge for a few days (not going to lie, I've been having these for breakfast). Again, they get big points for the sizing ring and piping bags included and I'll definitely be trying these again in the passionfruit flavour. Yum!

Get Baked: Honey Oat and Wheatgerm Bars

Mum is condemning super processed foods with heaps of refined sugar and salt. She is also in charge of food shopping. Therefore I'm on the hunt for healthy-ish snack recipes that don't taste like cardboard...

Step 1: Google and find a recipe and bring your iPad/tablet/laptop into the kitchen. Or be old school and write it down/print it out. Whatever.

Step 2: Pretend you're on a cooking show and pre-measure out all your ingredients.

Step 3: Follow aforementioned recipe.

Step 4: Whack in (preheated) oven and clean up the mess you inevitably made in the kitchen/draft a blog post while waiting for the timer to go off.

Step 5: Publish post and let other people know how talented you are! (refer first photo)

Verdict: Tasty. Easy. Needs more sultanas.

This is my jam.

Baked some Jam Drops this afternoon and thought I would document the recipe/process Instagram style :)

1. Start off with 125g softened butter and 3/4 cup white sugar (I used castor sugar).

2. Cream butter and sugar :)

 3. Mix in 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used essence) and 2 beaten eggs.

4. Add 1 & 1/4 cups plain flour (sifted), 1/4 cup cornflour (sifted) and 1/2 cup desiccated coconut.

5. Mix :)

6. Roll the mix into small balls. I used just a bit more than a teaspoonful for each ball and made approx 36.

7. Flatten/make little wells in the centre and fill with mum's homemade strawberry jam (or whatever other kind of jam you prefer).

8. Bake in the oven (I used 160C fan forced) for 15 minutes. Then let cool on tray.

9. Enjoy :D

Get baked

On Thursday during my lunch break on a trip to Woolies for afternoon snacks, I whizzed past the baking aisle to see that the Donna Hay macaron mixes were on special and figured I'd give them a go. They are relatively simple to make, as traditional macaron recipes require you to measure out all the ingredients precisely (weight wise, not volume wise) but this mix just comes in little sachets and all you need to add is some water and cream. 

The only trouble I had was that the lids didn't rise properly to create the little 'feet' they should have (my friend later mentioned that the Donna Hay magazine says you should tap the bottom of the tray to remove air bubbles- Gee, thanks for excluding that little tip on the box) and a lot of the filling kind of burst/ran out of the sides. Although, that was easily fixed I just removed the overflow and was left with reasonably round shapes to work with. 

The 'ganache' was more like cake icing, so I put them in the fridge and boy do they taste amazing once the filling has chilled a bit. They're not overly sweet, but are quite filling. So if you've ever wanted to try making your own macarons, but have been put off by all the fiddly processes and ingredients, I highly recommend you give this a try :)

ANZAC tartlets to fuel the Easter chocolate hangover.

Excuse me, Matt Preston. You cannot put something like this in the Sunday Times and not expect me (and my lovely assistant) to give them a whirl. Fantastic way to use up the Easter chocolate without feeling guilty from just scoffing eggs and bunnies, but these are definitely a once-a-day kind of treat!