Life Bites

Seeing that life has been rather crummy for a few people lately, I figured that I would serve out a little cheery recipe to brighten up the day. This is a post that I wanted to put up much earlier but never got around to.

I always feel that strawberries add a little sunshine to life. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, I now present my little remedy when life's trouble are taking a chew out of you; Strawberry Bites!



Strawberry Bites


Ingredients

Strawberries (of course!)
Puff pastry (I find Pampas the best)
Cupcake moulds
Nutella
Peanut butter


Method

1. Cut the puff pastry into 5 cm squares
2. Bake in oven at 180 C until pastry puffs up and browns
3. Use a teaspoon to poke a hole in the middle of the puff pastry and fill the indentation with Nutella and peanut butter. Use a fork to swirl it so that it form a circular pattern
4. Put a strawberry right in the middle to complete your creation.

Each bite is literally that, just about one mouthful. But a really yummy mouthful it is. As Yoda says “Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not."
{I hope this puts a smile on your face. You know who you are}

What's in Store?

No, I didn't suddenly forego my many hard years of study and set up shop somewhere. But, you've got to admit that this is cool. It's from a website that generates signs. Not bad, huh? Could this be what's in store for the future? Haha, probably not. Still, one can always dream...

Guest Post

~Grudgingly allowed by Strawbunny~

(Disclaimer: Before I allow this particular post out, I'd better inform anyone reading this that my sister is not the alcoholic, jelly-spiker she potrays herself to be here. At least, not usually. I'm wondering if it's going to cast my blog in a dubious light from now on though. I think I need to learn not to give in to her pestering in the future)

I'm sure everyone has been to those parties where everyone's a bit uptight with everyone else and mingle in their small little groups.
Best way to loosen everyone else up a bit: JELLY SHOTS =D

Mandarin Jellies
Ingredients:
Oranges
Jelly Powder
Caster Sugar
Orange Colouring
Thick Cream
Yellow Sprinkles

and the key ingredient:
ABSOLUT Mandarin that looks like the photo below

Method:

1. First cut the oranges into half vertically. Scoop the insides out, and put them into a bowl (they can be used for an orange smoothie if you feel like it).
   
2. Follow the instructions of your jelly powder. For the jelly powder I used, water content was 2750ml of water, but instead of that whole 2750 ml, I made do with 2 litres of water.
3. Boil the water with the jelly powder until the it is dissolved and add caster sugar and stir until that dissolves too. Turn off the fire and stir in a 1/4 tsp of orange colouring.
4. Wait for the jelly mixture to cool somewhat (about 20 minutes in this current Aussie weather of 15degrees)
5. Add 600ml of absolut mandarin in and stir thoroughly.
   
6. Pour the jelly into the halved-orange skins and any other jelly moulds you'd like to use. For my party, I used ice-cube trays and shot-glasses. Ensure the orange moulds are as full as possible. Use a muffin tray to stabilise the orange moulds if you have to.
7. Chill overnight, or until jelly is set and cut the orange into slices.

For the decoration, I opted for whipped cream and yellow sprinkles. Just put thickened cream into a bowl and mix it with sugar until it is stiff. I've got a major sweet tooth so I used plenty of sugar. It really depends on your preference though. Use a piping bag and pipe it on top of the jelly and sprinkle yellow sprinkles and wah-lah! You're done =D
(In absence of a real piping bag, i used a sandwich bag and cut a small hole in the corner)

All remaining whipped cream was kept for guests who wanted additional cream on their jellies.

Normal jelly can be replaced with Konnyaku jelly (minus the vodka) for a similarly beautiful dessert, guaranteed to be the hit of any party.

Fyi, i know strawbunny is going to insist i'm an alcoholic but i'm really far from it. Promise.

may the force be with jelly desserts.. with a twist,
Cheers~

Thankscharles (again)

It seems I'm always having to thank someone for saving my blog. To my horror, sometime this evening, my blog suddenly had an appearance crisis. It had reverted to its sad, constricted previous state and I couldn't even figure out why! Thankfully, my helpful buddy above rescued it and it is now had a (re)make-over *Phew* Dilemma solved =) Onward, food makers!

A Slice to Tingle the Tastebuds With

The weird discovery I made about cheesecake is that you have to be in the mood for it or it just doesn't tingle your tastebuds like it should. Of course, when you're in the mood for it you're really in the mood for it. As in, you can almost literally taste the texture of it on your palate. And woe to anyone who stands in between you and your chosen slice!

My latest cheesecake escapade came about from a meld of a craving and necessity. I needed to bake a thank you gift for an extremely helpful group of people and, as one of the individuals of that group was a self confessed coffee nut, I figured I'd kill two diets with one cake and rustled up the recipe for a mocha cheese slice.

I have to say what attracted me to this particular recipe was the awesome photos on display. And after greeting my newly baked cheesecake at the oven door I could see how those picture perfect shots came about. The slice settles beautifully into three layers once all is done. And it looks so cute and yummy, you could just eat them! Which I did. *Aaaah*

*Sneak peek*

I'm proud to say the cake was enjoyed thoroughly by all and sundry (including yours truly of course). And I really recommend this to anyone who wants to try out a recipe of intermediate difficulty. It's absolutely worth the effort if you're into both presentation and taste. It does take a little time though, especially if you're attempting it for the first time. So spare a whole afternoon or evening for the joys of baking.

Viola!

How would I describe it? Rich and creamy, and the layer of icing contrasts perfectly with the bittersweetness of the dark chocolate mocha beneath, while the nice biscuit base sets both layers above off just ..urmm..nicely. (excuse the pun but I couldn't find another word that would describe the cake without making it sound toooo good)

Mocha Cheese Slice

Ingredients

Base

200g nice biscuits, crushed
94 g butter

Filling

60 ml (3 tbs) of water
1½ tsp instant coffee powder
100g dark chocolate
250 g cream cheese, softened
½ cup (112 g) caster sugar
1 large egg
¼ tsp vanilla essence

Topping

1 cup(250g) cream
1½ tsp caster sugar
chocolate shavings

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 C

2. Combine base and press firmly down into 20 cm greased square pan. If you want to make mini cheesecakes like the one in the pictures, grease your muffin trays and use them instead.

3. Place water, coffee, chocolate over fire on low heat until chocolate melted and mixture smooth. Set aside

4. Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth, then add in egg and vanilla

5. Add chocolate mixture to the cream cheese and beat until combined

6. Pour the combined mixture over the base and bake for 22-27 minutes

7. Cool at room temp for 30 min then refrigerate

8. For topping beat cream and caster sugar with a mixer until thick. Decorate with chocolate shavings on top

   

Enjoy the fruits of your labour. You deserve it!

This is just another serving suggestion. A birthday cake made by my sister, Ann, using the same recipe.
I'm so proud to call her my sister=D