Chocolate Orange Shortbread with Candied Orange Peel

A delicious buttery biscuit, spiked with fragrant orange zest, generously dipped in dark chocolate. Perfect to give as a homemade gift!

There's something about baking and Christmas. I wish I could say it was because of the weather, that the snow and dropping mercury drives one in to the kitchen for baking and comfort by the oven but in Australia, this is quite the opposite. It's hotter the devil's bumhole after curry night. I can barely function in this heat. And yet when the tree goes up and the shop fronts put their little animatronic scenes up, I get the hankering for some bakering.

Mr. Cakes has always been a fan of choc orange. Not to say that he came out of the womb sucking on a Jaffa but for as long as I've known him, he's been a fan of this classic combination. It wasn't a flavour I've previously been inclined to choose. However, in the last few years, I've certainly come around. Maybe I'm a mature person now who likes to munch on a Terry's Chocolate Orange while I'm watching a bit of Miss Marple.

I have never had a Terry's Chocolate Orange and I have never seen Miss Marple. Both are awesome, I'm sure.

I have had chocolate orange shortbread with candied orange peel. These smell so good, you can out your Christmas candle back in the cabinet for the afternoon while these are baking. Ain't no party like an olfactory party cos an olfactory party is in your nose...and you know...what other party is in your nose? Cocaine.

These cookies have a wonderful orange flavour from both some orange zest and a few tablespoons of freshly squeezed juice. But because the juice does thin the batter out, the cookies do spread when baked. To counter this, make sure to refrigerate the cookies for 30 minutes.

I choose to make these in half moon shapes, like orange slices. I tried cutting them before they were put in to the oven, but I found I could get a crisper line on the sliced side if I carefully cut them with a very sharp knife the second they came out of the oven.

You may be tempted to skip making the candied orange peel and who am I to discourage cutting corners. But I must tell you, the candied orange peel not only look darling and take presentation of the cookies to the next level, but they taste divine. And if giving these as gifts, then I'm afraid the candied peel is really not optional. It just looks (and tastes) too good.

Chocolate Orange Shortbread with Candied Orange Peel

Prep time: 40 mins

Cooking time: 25 mins

Total time:  1 hr 5 mins

Servings: 24 cut-out biscuits

230g butter, softened

120g caster sugar

2T fresh orange juice

Zest of 2 oranges

260g plain flour

80g rice flour

375 dark chocolate

1.      Preheat oven to 150°C and line two cookie sheets with baking paper

2.      In a large bowl, beat the butter with a wooden spoon until soft then add the sugar and mix thoroughly.

3.      Add orange juice, orange zest then mix.

4.      Sift in both flours and mix to a smooth dough.

5.      Roll out dough to 1cm thickness and cut using a round cookie cutter.

6.      Place on the prepared cookie sheets, at least 2cm apart and place in the fridge to chill for at 30 minutes.

7.      Meanwhile, make the candied orange peel - see below for 

8.      Bake each tray on the middle shelf of the oven for 25 minutes, or until cookies are just cooked.

9.      When the cookies have come straight out of the oven, cut the circles, with a very sharp knife, to form half-moons.

10.  Allow to cool.

11.  Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl, in the microwave in 30 second intervals.

12.  Dip each cookie in the melted chocolate and top with a piece of candied orange peel while chocolate is wet and then place on a rack to allow to dry.

13.  Enjoy!

Candied Orange Peel

1/3 cup caster sugar

1/3 cup water

2 oranges

Extra caster sugar for coating peels (1/2 cup to a cup)

1.      Use a vegetable peeler to cut the peel off the oranges in long strips, then use a sharp knife to cut the peel into pieces 3 - 5 cm long.

2.      Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves.

3.      Add the orange peel and cook over a low-medium heat for 20 or so mins until the peel is tender and the syrup thickens.

4.      Transfer the peel and syrup to a small bowl and refrigerate until cool enough to handle.

5.      To sugar the candied orange peel, drain the syrup from the orange peel and toss the peel with the extra caster sugar in a small bowl, then place on a baking sheet lined with non-stick paper.

6.      Allow to stand until required.               

Yule Log Cake

A very traditional, very pretty and very easy Christmas dessert. The Yule Log - a light and airy chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream presented in a festive log shape.

These little reindeer are the essence of Christmas. Think about it/

One of the most satisfying thing to bake is something that is really easy but comes out looking quite complicated and impresses everyone very much. You get to sit back and say, "oh no, it really was very easy" but no one believes you and you look like a flipping baking juggernaut. This Yule Log is one of those things.

Like all good things, this cake has it origins in France with popularity in most French colonies such as French Canada and Belgium, and it's French name is bûche de Noël. If my French tutor ever comes back from wherever she went, maybe I'll be able to correctly pronounce that one day. Why would she leave me at Christmas time? It's like she went out to get some des clopes and never came back.

Here's a few process photos of the stages of the cake mix.

Anyway, the cake! It's a dream. Besides the separating of the eggs, it's all very straight forward. It's a simple thin sponge cake, a Swiss roll, if you will and you will have to if you want to make this so lets not get caught up in semantics. The sticking point is the roll component of the Swiss roll, since you've already got the Swiss part down. I saw you running nude from the sauna to the plunge pool so I know you do. Exhilarating.

They see me rollin'

A cake full of promise.

Taking form now...

Annndddd taaaaa...

But don't let the rolling intimidate you. I rolled it and I can't roll a thing to save me, not even des clopes. And any cracks that do appear in your roll, can be covered by luscious, forgiving buttercream.

...DA!

Bake this deceptively easy cake and let is be the centrepiece of your Christmas table. Unless you're eating outside in Australia, where it is literately hotter than the devils asshole, in which case you might want to leave it somewhere cool until the big reveal. God this country is so hot.

A peaceful snowy landscape.

Sometimes I look forward to the nuclear winter that President Trump is sure to bring upon us all...anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

hey there little fella.

Yule Log Cake

Prep time: 20 mins, not including cooling time
Cooking time: 20 mins

Total time:  40 mins

Servings: 12 slices

Chocolate Sponge
6 eggs, separated
150 grams caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup grams cocoa powder
Icing sugar to sieve over cake

Chocolate Buttercream

200g chocolate melts

250g icing sugar

250g butter, softened

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk egg whites til thick and stiffened. Once egg whites have reached firm peak stage, sprinkle in 50g of the caster sugar and whisk until just combined.
3. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks, vanilla and the remaining caster sugar until the yolks change colour and become pale and thick. Sieve the cocoa powder over, then gently fold in.
4. Add a large spoonful of egg whites into the yolk mix and fold. Add the remaining egg whites and fold through. Folding them in carefully to keep the air in the mix.
5. Line a Swiss roll tin with baking paper with a few inches over hanging at the ends. Pour in the cake mixture and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Let the cake cool a little before turning it out onto another piece of baking paper. Cover loosely with a clean tea towel.
6. In the meantime, melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals and allow to cool. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and add butter and vanilla. Beat until butter is paler in colour then add cooled chocolate and beat until smooth and combined.
7. Trim the edges of the Swiss roll then spread ½ cup to 1 cup of buttercream on to the cake and spread in a thin layer, ensuring the buttercream is spread right to the edges.  
8. Start rolling from the short side facing you, taking care to get a tight roll from the beginning, and roll up to the other side. Use the tension of the baking paper to press the roll, avoiding pressing your fingers in to the cake and leaving indents.
9. Cut both ends at an angle, reserving the remnants, and place the Swiss roll on a board or long dish. Fashion the cut offs to make branches sticking off the main log. You may have to unroll and re-roll to the look right.
10. Spread the remaining buttercream over the cake and use a skewer or fork tines to make indents in the buttercream, to look like bark.   
11. Finally, dust the whole cake with a generous amount of icing sugar ‘snow’.

RSPCA Puppy Cakes

Make these delicious honey flavoured cupcake with a sweet peanut butter and cream cheese centre and toasted meringue topping to raise funds for the RSPCA and share them with your four legged friend!

Obviously don't top the human cupcakes with dog-chocolate and bone treats...unless you want to.

Now. I don't know if you know but I love dogs. I adore them. I'm obsessed with them. I have a folder on my phone full of photos I've met on the street. I have over 60 kilos of dog that lives inside my house, two dogs who literally are my children. My puppies are a 6 year old German Shepherd named Stompypants and a 5 year old yellow Labrador named Puca but her name really should be Cheekypants. And I'm working on getting a rescue pug who I plan on naming Sausage.

Two dignified ladies, ready for their picnic.

As you can see, when I am on the topic of dogs, I can talk forever and I do get sidetracked in lovely puppy kisses and wet noses and wagging tails. My puppies are so spoilt, treats, fresh food, water, daily walks...but not all dogs are so lucky. Some dogs, through no fault of their own, have no warm place to put their fluffy bum and no one to pet their pretty heads. Some dogs are born into puppy farms or on the street. Some puppies are mistreated or suddenly can't be looked after anymore.

Oh that looks good..

...can I have it?...

AWESOME!

But thank the canine stars that we have the RSPCA. The RSPCA do vital work. They house and feed and give life saving medical attention to literally tens of thousands of dogs across Australia each year. And their care and welfare doesn't just stop with woman's best friend! They care for cats, birds, horses, chickens, snakes, Guinea pigs, rats, mice, lizards...all of our furry, scaly, feathery friends. Haven personally volunteered at RSPCA, I can tell you the care they give to animals is outstanding and wonderful.

This care doesn't come cheap. RSPCA QLD needs $42 million a year to keep running. And 99% of their funding comes from donations from people like me and you! And here's where you get to make a real difference. August 15 is RSPCA Cupcake day. All you need to do is register, bake some delicious cupcakes, (like the ones I have made here!) and raise some much-needed funds for those saints at the RSPCA.

What could be more awesome than baking some delicious cupcakes and raising money for a important cause AND EATING THEM! Can you show me the downside? No! Cos there isn't one!

The fun thing about these cupcakes is that you can eat them...and your dog can eat them too! Bake these Honey and Peanut Butter cupcakes, then sit down and share one with your dog! How much fun is that? And then whip another bunch and sell them at your work or your school or invite some people over and have a fundraising puppy cupcake party!

Head on over to www.rspcacupcakeday.com.au and register. Print out some posters and get all your friends and family involved and raise as much money as you can for RSPCA! And enjoy these photos of the puppy picnic I put on for Stompypants and Puca. They were such ladies.

Honey and Peanut Butter Puppy Cakes
These cupcakes are safe for your dog to eat, but please be treat-wise. Dogs don't need sugar. For this reason, these cupcakes are smaller in size. Top with dog treats for the doggies and a rice marshmallow crispy for you!
Prep time: 60 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Total time:  75 mins

Servings: 24 small cupcakes

Honey Cupcakes

125g butter, softened 

125g caster sugar

3 tablespoons honey

2 whole eggs plus 3egg yolks (reserve the whites)

1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1/2 cup lactose-free milk

Peanut Butter Filling

3 tablespoons sugar free peanut butter

3 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature

2 tablespoons honey

Meringue Icing

3 egg whites

1/2 cup caster sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a 12-hole cupcake tin with smaller cupcake liners
2. Beat the sugar and butter together until lighter in colour
3. Add eggs and yolk one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Sift the flours into one bowl and add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, in three lots, starting and finishing with the flour
5. Fill each cupcake liner two-thirds full
6. Bake for 23 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, add the peanut butter, cream cheese and honey to a small bowl and stir thoroughly to make the peanut butter filling.
8. Allow to cool while you prepare the meringue. 

Meringue

1. Wipe a mixer bowl with a paper towel dampened with lemon juice.
2. Add egg whites to the bowl and whip until soft peaks form.
3. With the mixer running, gradually add the sugar mixture and beat until thick and glossy.

Assembly

1. Scoop out a small amount of the cupcakes with a teaspoon or a melon baller. Put the bit aside.
2. Fill cavity with a generous teaspoon of peanut butter filling.
3. Replace the cut-out cupcake piece.
4. Pipe or spoon on the meringue on each cupcake and pass a kitchen blowtorch over the meringue is toasted. Alternatively, place the cupcakes back into a 200°C oven until golden.

Mothers Day Pound Cake

Warm and comforting, this is a dense and moist cake that is easy to make and even easier to eat - whip one up to impress your mum with your baking skills or just make one to have with ice cream all for yourself!

Perhaps it is my Alabamian ancestry - my mother moved from Alabama to Australia when she was a teen - but every now and then, I get a hankering for some real down-home Southern cooking. Sometimes I'll need to brew up some iced tea (the stuff you get in the plastic bottles is NOT iced tea), other times the air will be aromatic with spices of proper buttermilk fried chicken but today, it was pound cake.

Traditionally, a pound cake was made with a pound each of four ingredients: Butter, sugar, flour and eggs in a ratio of 1:1:1:1. Four pounds of ingredients is 1.8 kilos...that's a big cake! And this version doesn't shy away from those epic proportions.

The eggs must be beaten well after each addition as there is no rising agents in the recipe. The air whipped in to the cake act as a natural leavening. So make sure the butter is whipped til the butter turns a lighter shade of yellow and each eggs is beaten in well before the next is added.

This cake is a dream to make, it's so easy! It's perfect for those of us who want to whip up a cake for their mum. This cake looks great with a generous sprinkle of icing sugar or a simple glaze. I actually can not tell you which version I like better, with icing sugar or glaze. I think the simplicity of the icing sugar is appealing and of course, so easy but I also like the look of glaze dripping through the channels created by a bundt tin. Either option MUST be served with ice cream though - not negotiable.

Oh and that's the other thing I love about this cake. Cracking out the old bundt tin! I love a cake that can be made ornate and decorated by the shape of the pan! My tin is pretty boring, I should upgrade it.

Not least influenced by the scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the bundt also allows for a little creativity with decorations. Some pretty flowers in the centre certainly adds to the prettiness that is Mothers Day.  

At any rate, this is the perfect mothers day cake. And as a bonus, if you have a standard sized cake, there is going to be a touch of batter left over which can be made in to cupcakes! A cake for mum and a treat for you too!

Mothers Day Pound Cake
Adapted from The Complete Southern Cookbook recipe

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 1 hr 30 mins

Total time:  1 hr 45 mins

Servings: 12 servings

Vanilla Pound Cake

450g butter, softened

3 cups caster sugar

6 eggs, free range

4 cups plain flour, sifted

3/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lemon Glaze - Optional

1 1/2 cups sifted icing sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 150°C
2. Generously grease a bundt tin and dust with flour.
3. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed for 5 minutes, or until butter has turned pale.
4. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add sugar.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition with the mixer on medium speed.
6. Add the flour alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour.
7. Add vanilla and mix until combined.
8. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, until the mix reaches half an inch or so from the top.
9. Bake for 1 hour and 30 mins or until the cake is golden and a wooden skewer inserted in to the centre of the cake comes out clean.
10. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn on to a wire rack to cool.
11. Top with icing sugar or with lemon glaze.
12. To make glaze, place icing sugar, milk and butter in a bowl and whisk vigorously. Add lemon juice and whisk until combined. Drizzle over cooled cake as desired.
13. Serve with ice cream.

REVIEW: Papparich

Papparich in the Wintrergarden

Food is a massive part of culture, and one of the most enjoyable parts. It's one of the most accessible ways to learn about a country, what the people eat is influenced by trade, by the environment, by climate and so much more. Cuisine evolves, new produce effects trends, new technology's change how meals are prepared and the movement of people regenerates food. Take how the Greek immigrants brought Greek food and café culture to Australia in the 1950's and 60's, or how the classic fish and chips was introduced to England in the 16th century from Jewish refugees. Food is history, food is life and inextricably bound together with culture.

Malaysia is a melting pot and the food reflects this. With restaurants in all over Australia and overseas, Papparich comes to Brisbane, opening a brand new franchise in the Wintergarden. The restaurant has an open kitchen, giving a great view of the flaming woks. We were seated in the open-air balcony area and while it was pretty, I can't deny it was very warm. But this did steer us towards the extensive beverage menu and its enticing range of icy drinks.

Icy goodness

We ordered Mango Mania and Tropical Lime  ice blended drinks. Both were cooling and refreshing, but definitely for those with a sweet tooth. We got straight on to entrees and although I was absolutely DEVASTATED that there were no Pappa Deep Fried Chicken Skins left, we consoled ourselves with the Pappa Fried Chicken Wings. They were moist on the inside and crispy on the outside. If the chicken skins are half as good as the wings, I will be returning for them soon!

Yummy goodness!

We got two mains and shared them and we absolutely agonized over our choices. Malaysia has such a broad range of dishes, with Indian, Chinese, Malay and Indonesian influences. We settled on Vegetarian Char Koay Teow with egg and the exciting looking Roti Telur with Beef Rendang.

The Char Koay Teow took me straight back to hawker markets and hot South-East Asian nights, with delicious silky rice noodles and the charred, fiery taste of the wok. This dish is a Malaysian classic with great flavours and the contrast between the exquisitely slippery noodles and crispy vegetables. A definite winner dish.

Such an exciting dish!

The Roti Telur with Beef Rendang came out on a big silver tray with the roti in the centre and curry and condiments on the outside. The pieces of beef were tender and fell apart. The curry was fairly mild with a sweet taste that paired well with the roti. It was fun to adjust taste with the condiments on the side.

Interesting...

Finally, we decided to get a little adventurous and ordered one of the most unusual items we could find. We decided upon the Steamed Mantau with Kaya, steamed buns with a sweet green paste which was coconut jam. The buns had a generous smear of butter on them too. Now, I have to be honest, I did not like these at all. But my dining companion, while she agreed that they were unusual, ate most of her bun. And I'm glad I tried them.

Papparich offers a wide range of dishes with curries, noodles, soups and fried goodies, it's the perfect place for a weekday lunch or languorous dinner. Affordable and efficient, it's a welcome addition to the city's dining landscape.

Disclaimer: Cassie Cakes was an invited guest of Papparich Brisbane. Opinions are my own and the above review is an honest account of my experience.