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.               

Bauble Macarons

The French biscuit gets a Christmas makeover. Glittery, delicate and festive, these baubles are almost too pretty to eat! Almost!

How darling! Please note, I used glue to make this happen. Those fondant gold loops won't hold your macarons in the tree.

You know what my favourite time of the year is? If this is your first time to the blog, you may not guess that it's Christmas. You probably would guess though because this is quite obviously a Christmas post. What other time of year can you use glitter so liberally and unabashedly! None. No time. Christmas is all about glitter and sparkle and fairy lights and tinsel. Don't use tinsel though. Tinsel is passé.

So few ingredients for so much MAGIC! Hey Santa. (salt and pepper shakers...)

Anyway. Glitter. Originally, I had planned on making candy cane macarons. And that would have been cool. Maybe next Christmas, they'll make an appearance. But when I did a quick google search, there were already so many! My candy cane macarons would get lost in the massive pile of already gorgeous cookie sandwiches. And to be honest, candy canes? Mint buttercream? How would that even work...

The scales is your friend. This goes to..



...these!

But my heart was set on macarons...how could I make them original? Given my predilection for all things loud and flashy, this was the natural choice. Bauble macarons! Covered in glitter with snowflakes, sugar pearls and gold bauble tops, these scream fun!


Start these at least 24 hours before you need them. I could not be bothered making 48 of these. Power to you, if you do! I stopped at 20.

I used my macaron recipe from the Chocolate Cheesecake Macarons and I was a little nervous, as I have read that sometime the first time a person makes macarons, they can fluke it. Then the second time - fail. But nope! They turned out great! I followed the same tips as in the previous post. There are lots of details on the Chocolate Cheesecake Macaron post, but in brief the tips are...

Make a little paste and paint the macarons to make them FABULOUS!

1. Room temp eggs
2. Sifted almond meal
3. Precisely mixed batter
4. Bang the tray with the piped macarons to get air bubbles out.
5. Let the piped macarons sit on the bench for 30 minutes to develop a "skin" and help create the "foot" of the macaron.

 

 

So start with room temperature eggs. Bring cold eggs to room temp quickly by sitting them in warm water if need be. Once the egg whites are beaten and foamy, then it's time for the second tip...

Thanks Mr Cakes for taking this photo! Legend.

Sift the almond meal and icing sugar. Even if the almond meal is store bought, it can have larger bits of almond in it so sift to ensure a smooth cookie. Then add it to the egg whites and add colouring. Since I was making four different coloured macarons, I weighed the egg whites, and then weighed out the sifted icing sugar, to get four equal parts.

Pretty.

They make me think of Mardi Gras. Why is that? It's the Alyssa Edwards in me.

The ambiguous and crucial tip -  do not over mix or under mix the batter. Not the best for the most important step to be cryptic, but fold the batter deliberately and precisely. Assess the batter after each fold. The batter should be thick and flow like molten lava. I found that because some of the bowls of batter had to sit un-piped in bowls, it would need a few more folds before I piped it. So don't be too concerned if the batter thickens up while it's waiting.

SO CUTE!

Once the batter is mixed, pipe out the shells on to the trays, using the template under baking paper then bang the trays firmly 3 or 4 times on the bench to bring the air bubbles to the surface then let the macarons sit to develop a skin, which helps give the biscuits a nice foot.

How amazing is food glitter.

After all the trays are baked and the macarons have cooled, it's time to get glittering! Oh my goodness, it was so much fun to watch the macarons go from drab to fab! Using a bit of vodka, make a thick liquid with edible food glitter. Think nail polish thickness. Then get a painting!

And they taste good too!

Don't worry about alcohol on the macarons, it will evaporate. Which could be a bad thing, depending on who you ask.



Christmas achievement UNLOCKED!



Merry Christmas everyone! Two weeks to go!

Visit Four Weeks of Christmas Baking past!:
2015
Week 1 of Four Weeks of Christmas Baking: Chocolate Dipped Vanilla Shortbread

2014Week 1 of Four Weeks of Christmas Baking: Christmas Star Cherry Tart with Cinnamon Honey Roasted Macadamia Ice Cream
Week 2 of Four Weeks of Christmas Baking: Raspberry Jam Drops
Week 3 of Four Weeks of Christmas Baking: Rum Ball Trifle
Week 4 of Four Weeks of Christmas Baking: Eggnog Cake

Bauble Macarons
Use this template  to ensure your macarons are even and consistently sized. Lie the template under baking paper and pipe the batter on. Make sure the template is removed before baking.

Prep time: 60 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Total time:  75 mins

 

Servings: 48 sandwiched macarons

Fondant Bauble Tops
White fondant - 30g will be plenty
Food colouring - yellow
Food lustre powder - gold

Macarons
6 large egg whites, free range, room temperature
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
100g caster sugar
400g icing sugar
2 cup/240g almond meal
Food colouring -  pink, blue, green
Edidble food glitter
Vodka

Vanilla Buttercream
250g butter, softewned
4 cups icing sugar, sifted
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
White food colouring
Bauble Tops - start at least 24 hours before use

1. Colour white fondant yellow and take pea sized amount, form into a rounded pyramid shape.
2. Flatten the top of the pyramid shape and create a hole on top with a skewer. Add details to the sides. Allow to dry slightly.
3. Roll a small amount of fondant into a long, thin cylindrical shape, then create a loop.
4. Use a small amount of water to affix the loop in the hole of the pyramid shape and allow to dry overnight.
5. Brush with gold dust, if desired.

Macarons

1. Preheat oven to 150°C
2. Using a template to ensure the macarons are evenly sized, line a two trays with baking paper.
3. Beat egg whites in the bowl of a mixer until egg whites are foamy.
4. Add pinch of salt and cream of tartar and continue to beat egg whites,
5. Slowly sprinkle in caster sugar and continue beating for around 8 minutes, until egg whites are stiff, peaks hold and do not collapse.
6. Separate egg whites in to quarters, using scales to ensure each is the same size.
7. Add food colouring to each of the four bowls - pink, blue, green and leave one bowl uncoloured.
8. Sift almond meal and icing sugar in to a large bowl, then seprate in to quarters using scales. 
9. Gently add one bowl of sifted almond meal and icing sugar into one bowl of egg white mix.
10. With a flat spatula, gently and precisely fold the almond meal . Batter should be thick and flow off the spatula - think 'molten lava'.
11. Repeat with each egg white mix.
12. Pipe macarons using a large piping bag and open round tip.
13. Allow piped macarons to sit uncovered on the bench for 30 minutes. A skin will form that feels tacky to the touch and does not leave a fingerprint.
14. Bake for 15 minutes. Bake one tray at a time, on the same shelf to ensure they are baked evenly.
15. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
16. Add edible food glitter to small bowl, then add vodka using a teaspoon or dropper to add very small amounts at a time. Create a thick liquid and paint on to macaron tops. Allow to dry.
17. Melt small amount of white chocolate and pipe snowflake pattern on to desired number of macarons and decorate with sugar pearls. Allow to dry.
18. Use a small amount of buttercream to attach bauble tops.

Vanilla Buttercream

1. In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter and icing sugar until creamy.
2. Add vanilla and white food colouring and beat until combined and mix is smooth and creamy.

To assemble

1. Match each macaron half with another of the same size.
2. Using a round tip fitted on a piping bag, pipe a generous circle of buttercream on one biscuit then sandwich corresponding biscuit, pushing buttercream to edges.
3. Store in an airtight container.

Chocolate Dipped Vanilla Shortbread

A delicious buttery vanilla biscuit , generously dipped in milk and white chocolate. Perfect to give as a homemade gift!
 

Oh my stars, look at this! The first week of the second year of Four Weeks of Christmas baking! Mull that over for a minute and figure out the time line then join me in a big fat YAY! My tree is up and shining beside me as I type and I have a Christmas candle burning, I really love this time of year.

In December, we use salt and pepper from a Santa and Sack combo. That's how we roll.

 Is any other biscuit so quintessential Christmas as shortbread? How did that happen? Shortbread is Scottish, I know that much. But why is it associated with Christmas? I did a quick google and couldn't find an answer on the first two pages I clicked on so I'm stumped. If you know, please leave a comment and tell me!

Little offset spatula. How handy you are.

Mr Cakes loves shortbread. Or he did. When I asked him the morning of baking the shortbread, he didn't seem too excited. He had just come off night shift so that might explain it, though anything Christmas related should be welcomed with a ridiculous amount of enthusiasm. That's how I live my life.

Little stars and maybe the circles are moons! A Christmas sky.

Shortbread gets its name from the 'shortness' of the dough, meaning it's buttery and has a high proportion of fat. The recipe traditionally is very simple with just butter, plain flour, rice flour and sugar as well as a dash of salt. There are many variations and commonly, the rice flour is substituted with cornflour. Cornflour will make a softer biscuit and rice flour gives a crisper, more crumbly biscuit. Ever the traditionalist - with baking at least - I use rice flour.

That pink dish cost me $20, it was more than 60% off. That is a Christmas miracle. But I had to bring it up the back stairs so Mr Cakes didn't see it as I have been spending waaaay too much money. How did it get here, he'll ask and I'll say "SANTA!"

I did stray ever so slightly by adding a vanilla pod to the dough. I wanted not only the amazing flavour of vanilla but I find those tiny black dots so pretty on the surface. Like their own teeny tiny baubles. Then I went further off the traditionalist path by dipping them in chocolate. And I don't think I need to explain that chocolate makes everything better. We all know that. That's science.
 

Bon-bons were half price too. And the pack said they're luxury bon bons. Bargain.

This is such a simple recipe, a really great one to do with little ones in the kitchen. I don't have any little ones (yesssssssss) but I do have puppies and they like to help too. Snuffling up any dropped bits of dough so quick. So helpful.

Pretty. God, I'm glad I bought that dish. I got one in mint too, which will definitely be making an appearance soon.

 Once the dough has been made, I like to roll the dough out on a piece of baking paper. This ensures less mess but also makes it easier to get the cut out cookies off the bench. When making stars, this is especially important as a little stickiness on the points of the stars came make them misshapen.

This shortbread is really yummy, the vanilla makes it pop. And the chocolate. Chocolate makes everything better.

These would make great gifts, they would look so pretty wrapped in a bit of cellophane and tied with a little red bow. Also, they're pretty inexpensive which counts around this time of year, so many expenses.

Remember to leave some cookies out for Santa!

I just ate a burrito and then had two of these delicious shortbreads and I tell you, I could get a second job as a shopping centre Santa. God, I'm so full.

Visit Four Weeks of Christmas Baking past!:

Week 1 of Four Weeks of Christmas Baking: Christmas Star Cherry Tart with Cinnamon Honey Roasted Macadamia Ice Cream
Week 2 of Four Weeks of Christmas Baking: Raspberry Jam Drops
Week 3 of Four Weeks of Christmas Baking: Rum Ball Trifle
Week 4 of Four Weeks of Christmas Baking: Eggnog Cake

Chocolate Dipped Vanilla Shortbread
Adapted from The Guardian shortbread recipe

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 27 mins

Total time:  37 mins

Servings: 24 cut-out biscuits

230g butter, softened
120g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, scraped
260g plain flour
80g rice flour
150g milk chocolate
150g white 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. Scrape in the seeds from a vanilla pod and mix.
4. Sift in both flours and mix to a smooth dough.
5. Roll out dough to 1cm thickness and cut using assorted shaped cutters.
6. Place on the prepared cookie sheets, at least 2cm apart and place in the fridge to chill for at 15 minutes.
7. Bake each tray on the middle shelf of the oven for 27 minutes, or until cookies are just cooked.
8. Allow to cool.
9. Melt the chocolates in separate bowls, in the microwave in 30 second intervals.
10. Dip each cookie in the melted chocolate and allow to dry.
11. Enjoy!

REVIEW: Statler & Waldorf

The Statler & Waldorf

Okay. So what's the deal with hipsters, right? With their moustaches and beards and tattoos and bikes and coffee, food trucks, gourmet burgers, pop up everything, craft beers, Ray Bans, skinny jeans, indie bands, pulled pork, artisanal and organic everything...wait...so hipsters are just people into good food, good music and fashion? Yeah, they are. And guess what. You're probably a hipster too. Oh no? You're not? You're really, really not? You just appreciate good beer and are growing a moustache for Movember even though it's March and goodness, who doesn't love pulled pork?

Also Statler & Waldorf

What I'm saying is, there is no such thing as a hipster. We're just using this loose, umbrella term to cast dispersions on anyone who might seem a bit cool or has particular interest. Chill out, relax, you're cool too! We're all hipsters and we're all not hipsters! Put aside that term, stuff labels. Enjoy good food! And here is my segue to my review. You see, in reading about Statler &Waldorf, a newish gastopub on Caxton Street, the word 'hipster' kept popping up. And yes, Statler & Waldorf is rather cool with a working fireplace and extensive seasonal menu, not the mention the craft beers. But it's also very comfortable and casual.

Named after the classic cranky characters from The Muppets, Statler & Waldorf has been open since late 2013. A gastropub is nothing new, they were huge when I lived in London years ago but the term seems to be uncommon in Brisbane. It simply means a pub that has good food! So we choose Statler & Waldorf for lunch on a recent Saturday. The interior of Statler & Waldorf  is great, with a giant portrait of the namesakes hanging over the fireplace, a large bar and plentiful seating both in and out. And in a Brisbane summer, inside is mercifully air conditioned.

Look at that crispy skin! Drool.

We jumped straight to mains and first up was a daily special, the Roast Whole Spatchcock with Mushroom Ragu & Truffle Mustard. At $32, it was tied for the most expensive item on the menu but when it came out, I could see why. Actually, I could smell why. It smelt spectacular. With whole mushrooms, crispy skin and a delicious truffle mustard on top, I had serious ordering envy. It was cooked really well and the flavours were divine. I could have easily stolen it.

This photo is focusing on the co-star, not the leading lady but the tart doesn't mind, she confidant enough to pull this off.

For the vegetarians amongst us, the Caramelised Onion, Artichoke & Roast Garlic Tart with Parsley Sauce ($20) was ordered. It was nice to see a vegetarian option that wasn't gnocchi. The tart was nice and complimented by both diners but I didn't see any parsley sauce and the tart seemed a little dry without it.

You're alright, salad but don't try and come to me as a main meal.

Next was the Beets & Apple Salad with Baby Spinach, Goat Cheese & Fregola. It was the least expensive thing on the menu at $16 so that could be why it was a little small but I would have been disappointed if it was my main. But, I also wouldn't have ordered it cos I'm a hungry, hungry hippo. There were a generous amount of beetroot and the goats cheese was lovely, it could have been beefed up with a bit more fregola. For a light option or side dish or a person who isn't always ravenous.

Them some nice sausages. I'm not making any puns, I'm bigger than that...that's what he said! *ba boom tish!*

Back to meaty fare with the Billy's Pork Sausages with Lemon & Olive Oil Mash, Cider & Pink Peppercorn Sauce ($23). The mash was great, lovely and smooth with great flavour from the olive oil. The sausages were huge too, so I think this dish was quite good value. The pink peppercorn sauce looked to be more of a salsa and the pairing was described as unusual but not bad.

This is a pie! ohhh yeah!

The next dish was another one from the specials board, the Pork & Porcini Pie with Crispy Quinoa & Almond Salad ($22). This was another good value meal, the pie was huge. The meat was of a good quality, not fatty as some pie meat can be and the gravy in the pie was delicious, as was the pastry. This was a winner all round!

Bugs are weird looking.

Mr. Cakes ordered the Corned Brisket & Moreton Bay Bug with Horseradish Slaw & Pernod Butter ($32). The brisket was really tender and just fell apart. The slightly saltiness was fantastic. The Moreton bay bug tasted good, but the texture was slightly off, not firm-ish like they usually are. The surprise star of the dish was the coleslaw! The heat of the horseradish was perfect and it balanced well with the meat.

Maybe the sunflowers has some sort of invisible cloaks. Tiny little seed cloaks.

I ordered the Salt Baked Salmon with Watercress, Grapefruit Curd & Sunflower Seeds ($26). The salmon was amazing, flaky and a little pink inside which I love. The grapefruit curd was a little bit citrusy which went so well with both the salmon and watercress. I didn't spot any sunflower seeds though but I didn't miss them either. There was no skin with the salmon, which is what I would have expected with salmon that was salt baked but it did keep the meal lighter.

Maybe I love chips so much as they're just a vehicle for salt...

We also got a number of serves of the Beer Battered Chips with Aioli and Sweet Potato Wedges with Organic Raita, both $10. The sweet potato wedges really delicious. They were in the style I've noticed a lot of sweet potato chips are lately with ridges the length of the chip, is there some sort of sweet potato chip fashion trend?  Not that this is a bad thing! The regular chips were amazing. A good chip, sweet potato or otherwise is a thing of beauty!

The moth attacked from those curtains - dive bombed me! I went to ground and retreated and sent someone else up to get me a drink...you win this one, moth.

The menu at Statler &Waldorf was a great example of gastropub fare, with new takes on old classics, using organic and local produce where they can. I did get attacked by a MASSIVE MOTH, much to the amusement of everyone in the bar but I won't hold that against them. I swear, that moth came straight for me. They know how much I hate them.

Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Price: 3/5
Atmosphere: 4/5