Rocky Road So simple to make and the best way to ‘treat’ your sweet tooth, Rocky Road is great for all occasions. You may be entertaining the kids or enjoying afternoon tea with your friends, but – either way – it’s the perfect snack for all. You need: 500g milk chocolate 200g marshmallows ¼ cup desiccated coconut 4 tablespoons crushed peanuts 100g Turkish delight Method: 1. Break the chocolate into pieces, put it in a bowl and melt it in the microwave. 2. Then add the coconut, crushed peanuts, chopped marshmallows and chopped Turkish delight, and stir until smooth. 3. Line a baking tray with baking paper and spread the mixture in it, then refrigerate it until it’s set.  4. Cut it into squares and serve. Suggestion: You can use lolly snakes instead of Turkish delight or substitute almonds or pistachio nuts for peanuts

	Chocolate-Chip Cookies Perfect for the kids’ lunchboxes, an afternoon snack or a treat for your local craft group, chocolate-chip cookies are scrumptious and they always go well with a hot cuppa on a chilly afternoon. You Will Need: 250g unsalted butter, softened 3/4 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup castor sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 2 1/4 cups plain flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups milk chocolate chips Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius (160° Celsius for fan-forced) and grease a baking tray. 2. Cream the butter, brown sugar and castor sugar together until pale and creamy. 3. Add the eggs and vanilla essence and mix well. 4. Sift in the flour and baking soda then mix well. 5. Stir the chocolate chip bits through. 6. Put spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking tray and bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until golden. 7. Cool them for five minutes before putting them on a wire rack to cool. Store them in an airtight container. Suggestion: Add nuts to the recipe for extra flavour.

	Blueberry Muffins Light and fluffy, there’s nothing we love more than eating fresh blueberry muffins! And these ones are sure to be a favourite with the whole family – especially served warm and with butter. You Will Need: 2 cups self-raising flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/3 cup castor sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 egg 90g butter, melted 1 cup buttermilk 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced) and grease a 12-cup muffin tray. 2. Sift the flour, cinnamon and baking powder into a bowl. 3. Mix the sugar, egg and melted butter together. 4. Add the dry to the wet ingredients and stir them until just combined, the mixture should look rather lumpy. 5. Fold in the blueberries gently. 6. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tray cups and bake them for 20 minutes or until golden brown. 7. Serve warm or cool.

	Plain sponge sandwich 4 medium-sized eggs (at room temperature) 1 cup plain flour 1 rounded tsp baking powder 1 rounded tsp butter (only a teaspoon of butter? Sounds unduly healthy to me.) 4 tbsp water 1 cup sugar Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the sugar gradually, beating all the time. Once the sugar is dissolved (about 8 minutes beating with an electric beater) add the egg yolks slowly. Sift the dry ingredients together at least three times, then sift them into the egg mixture and fold it carefully by hand. Heat the butter and water on the stove until it comes to the boil then add it to the sponge mixture and fold in thoroughly. Put the mixture in two 18cm greased and floured sandwich tins. Bake for 20 minutes in oven pre-heated to 200˚C. When they have cooled, join them together with a filling of your choice. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The traditional sponge is an Australian icon. This delicate cake is made of beaten eggs, sugar and flour, and a good one is light yet solid enough to support layers of jam, cream and icing and is able to stand when a slice – a pointed wedge – is cut. It should be just moist enough to please the palate but uncomplicated enough to highlight the simple filling of jam and cream. The top is usually dusted with icing sugar but is often topped with flavoured icing as well. Most experts agree that the secret to baking a great sponge is ‘lightness of touch’. To achieve this, the egg whites must be treated very gently – not beaten too hard or too softly, and folded carefully with the flour. Tip: Use the freshest eggs possible

 

	Country-style Chocolate Brownies This delicious slice is a favourite around the office. A perfect treat at anytime for day and best served with a hot cup of tea or coffee. Makes 12 You’ll need - 300g good-quality dark cooking chocolate, broken into pieces 250g unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into cubes 2 1/2 cups caster sugar 4 free range eggs 1 1/2 cups plain white flour, sifted Method - Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan-forced). Grease and line a 4cm deep,18cm x 25cm slice pan. Place the butter in a large heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water before adding chocolate. Stir with a wooden spoon until ingredients have melted and are combined well. Remove the bowl from the heat and mix in the caster sugar well. Put the eggs in the bowl and beat well with an electric mixer before slowly adding in the chocolate mixture and then folding in the flour. Beat until well combined. Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared pan and bake on the lowest shelf of the oven for 45 minutes or until the top has formed a crust. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack and cutting into squares.

 

	Banana Bread You’ll Need - 2 over ripe bananas 2 tablespoons golden syrup ¾ cup sugar 1 egg 1 cup white self-raising flour pinch of salt METHOD 1. Pre heat oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced) and grease and line the base of a loaf pan. 2. In a medium bowl, mash bananas with a fork and add golden syrup. Stir in sugar, then the egg, sifted flour and salt and mix together until combined well. 3. Pour mixture into greased loaf pan and cook for 30 minutes or until the bread comes away from the side of the tin or a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. 4. Allow to cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn onto wire rack. This moist and tasty treat can be enjoyed warm straight from the oven or lightly toasted and slathered with butter.

 

	Teeny Tiny Truffle Puddings Makes 44 These miniature puddings are so gorgeous you can use them as decoration as well. Put a few on a cake stand with doilies and use it as a stunning table feature. 500g store-bought fruitcake 500g dark-chocolate buttons, melted 1/3 cup toasted flaked almonds, crushed 1/3 cup dark rum 2 tbsp desiccated coconut 1 teaspoon of oil 150g white-chocolate buttons, melted 8 red glacé cherries, chopped   Pop cake in a food processor until it’s broken up then combine it in a bowl with the rum, coconut, oil, almonds and 400g of the melted dark chocolate. Roll the mixture into truffle-size balls, place them on a tray covered with baking paper and set them aside. Put the leftover melted dark chocolate in a bowl and stir it vigorously. Spear each ball with a fork and dip it into the mixture to coat it. When it’s set, spoon melted white chocolate into a small plastic bag, prick one end so the chocolate can drizzle out on each pudding and fall down the sides like custard. Before the chocolate sets, decorate it with a piece of cherry and serve it with freshly roasted coffee. Serve your Teeny Tiny Truffle Puddings on a multi-level cake stand and watch as your guests make short work of the superb display.

	Simple Pecan Pie You need – Sweet short crust pastry: 225g plain flour 110g butter 4 egg yolks 110g caster sugar Cook’s Note To toast pecan nuts, simply cut in half and dry-fry then in a pan. Pecan pie filling: 3 eggs 175g toasted pecans, halved 110g sugar 50g butter (melted) 4 tablespoons maple or golden syrup (whichever you prefer) 2 tablespoons dark rum 3 drops of vanilla extract Method –       Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius Place flour, sugar, butter and egg yolks in a food processor and mix at a low speed until the ingredients are well combined. Wrap prepared dough in cling film and place in the refrigerator for one hour. Roll out dough and mould into a flan dish. Blind-bake for ten minutes, as this will help stop it from rising too much. Whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Pour this mixture into the pastry shell and place into the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. *To blind-bake is to cook the shell with pastry weights or equivalent, such as dry beans placed on top of cooking-foil.

 

	Mini Cherry Tartlets Makes 24 You’ll Need – 115g (3/4 cup) plain flour Pinch of salt 55g cubed butter, at room temperature 1 tbs caster sugar 1 1/2 tbs cold water 1 egg yolk, lightly whisked Plain flour, for dusting 200g good-quality cherry jam Method – Preheat oven to 180°C. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and then rub in the butter with your finger tips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and add 1 tbs of cold water and the egg yolk, using a butter knife to mix until the ingredients begin to come together. Knead the ingredients into a ball of dough, adding the remaining water if necessary. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. Remove the pastry from the fridge and cut in half. Place 1/2 the pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll out until 2mm thick. Use a round, 6cm pastry cutter to cut out 12 circles and repeat with the remaining pastry. Press the pastry circles into twenty-four 20ml (1 tbs) flat-based patty pans. Fill each pastry shell with 1 tsp of jam and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the jam is bubbling. Use a teaspoon to ease the tartlets from the pans and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.   Cook’s Note To create an old-fashioned lattice on the tops of the tartlets, cut left over pastry into small strips and place on the tartlets before baking, as seen in picture. Tartlets will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

 

	Beck's Favourite Gingerbread Men Beck Wise, our trusty Editorial Assistant shares her scrumptious gingerbread men recipe. What you will need – 2 ¼ C plain flour ½ C sugar ½ C butter ½ C golden syrup 1 ½ t ground cinnamon 1 t baking powder 1 t ground ginger 1 t ground cloves ½ t bicarb soda ½ t salt 1 egg Mix all ingredients until fully combined. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm. Roll out to 5mm thick and cut out with gingerbread man cutter. Place about 1cm apart on trays and press raisins into the dough to form eyes and buttons. Bake at 180°C for about 8 minutes or until browned.

	Grandma’s Caramel Slice Who can’t resist a piece of caramel slice? We certainly can’t! You will need: Base: 1 cup self raising flour, sifted 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed 1 cup coconut 125g butter, melted Filling: 1 can condensed milk 30g butter 2 tablespoons golden syrup Topping: 125g dark chocolate 90g butter Method: Base: Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and add butter. Mix until ingredients are moist and press firmly into a greased and lined slice tray. Bake in a moderate oven for 25 minutes and allow to cool. Filling: Place condensed milk, butter and golden syrup over low heat until the butter melts. Simmer for approximately eight minutes or until mixture becomes a thick, golden brown then remove mixture from heat and pour over the base. Pop in the oven for another ten minutes and then remove and allow to cool. Cool and add topping. Topping: Put chocolate and butter in a pan over a low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and cool for a little before pouring on top of the caramel. Place in the refrigerator to set and cut into slices.

	Country-style Carrot Cake There’s nothing like a big slice of carrot cake at any type of day. We’re not sure what we like more – the moist, delicious cake – or the cream cheese icing! You will need - 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1 cup olive oil 3 eggs, lightly beaten 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda 2 cups (4 carrots) firmly packed grated carrot 1 cup walnuts, chopped Icing 1 cup icing sugar 250g cream cheese, at room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla essence Method Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a  cake pan (20cm) with baking paper. Place oil, sugar and eggs into a large bowl and combine well. Sift flour, bicarbonate soda and cinnamon into wet mixture and stir gently. Add carrot and walnuts and mix well. Pour mixture into prepared cake pan and place in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before turning carefully onto a wire cooling rack. Icing: Beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer until combined. When cake is cool to touch, even distribute icing over cake. Garnish with walnuts or some candied carrots to serve.

	Ladies' Cucumber and Mint Tea Sandwiches Cucumber sandwiches are almost mandatory at ladies’ afternoon teas. These have a special ‘mint’ kick to them – the perfect accompaniment to fresh slices of cucumber. You will need – 185g Philadelphia cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped 8 slices of square-loaf white bread 1/2 a medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced 4 tablespoons margarine salt and pepper to taste Mix the mint and cream cheese until well combined. Spread half the bread slices lightly with margarine, then the other half with the cream cheese and mint mixture. Place the cucumber slices on the cream cheese side so that they overlap, and season with salt and pepper. Top with the remaining slices of buttered bread and take off the crusts before cutting each sandwich in four quarters. Serve on an elegant silver tray lined with white doilies.

	Victorian Tea Cake What’s a tea party without a traditional teacake? This recipe is an oldie but a goodie! What you will need - 1/2 cup butter 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder, salt 1/2 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla, icing sugar Grease a shallow-based tin and set it aside. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring as you go, then alternate sifting in the flour, baking powder and salt with the milk and vanilla. Beat all the ingredients well before spooning the mixture into the tin. Bake for 30 minutes in a hot oven at 190˚ Celsius. Allow it to cool slightly after taking it out and dust the top of the cake with icing sugar. Serve warm.  Other serving suggestions After putting the mix into the cake pan add fresh blueberries to the top and bake as per the instructions. When the cake has cooled dust with icing sugar and serve with fresh strawberries.

 

 

 

 

 

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