Tim Tam Cake

Did you know that Tim Tams are the best biscuits in the World? Well in my opinion anyway. Last weekend I made a little change to the Australian classic and made a giant sized cake resembling a Tim Tam. Two sponges stuck together using a thick chocolate icing, with crushed Tim Tams hidden in the middle and a chocolate ganache topped this cake. It really looked like a Tim Tam and a yummy one at that!

The thing I did well in making the cake was the ganache topping. The chocolate and cream combined really well and tasted sweet, whilst also giving the cake a Tim Tam look. The component that needs improving would probably be the two sponges. They tasted very egg like and next time I make the cake I will use a recipe I know will work better, as I was unfamiliar with the one I used  for this cake. On the whole the cake tasted extremely chocolaty, which prompted my siblings to make jokes about clogged arteries and heart attacks due to it. The appearance of the cake was that of a giant Tim Tam with the chocolate coat and the layers of chocolate and biscuit. 

The making and construction of this cake took around 3 hours due to the sheer amount of baking, freezing and construction time. First I had to make the sponges  that represented the biscuit  layers of the Tim Tam. Next was the thick, light coloured chocolate icing for the centre that stuck the sponges together. 

Then I crushed up a packet of Tim Tams and added them to the centre icing for a crunchy surprise. 

The cake then began to resemble a real Tim Tam with two layers of biscuit with a layer of soft chocolate in the middle. 

This led to the final step of making the chocolate ganache topping and pouring it over the Tim Tam to create a real biscuit look. 

That's it for another post and I hope anyone who sees this cake will give it a try. I will hopefully be back in a couple of days with Italian cheese cake or another yummy dessert. Sayonara!

Biscuit Decorating

Splatters of colour to brighten your biscuits!

Hello everyone! This blog post is dedicated to the fine art of biscuit decorating. The whole process was very messy but some of them turned out OK looking. I used a packet of Arrowroot biscuits and tried to make them as pretty as possible, although I had a bit of trouble at that task. Due to lack of time and resources the biscuits turned out looking a little bit odd, however the icing tasted pretty good which made up for the appearance of the biscuits.

The best part of the dish was probably the taste of the icing. It was sweet, delicious and really complemented the arrowroot biscuits. The thing that definitely needs improving is the decoration of the biscuits. I didn't have much time to decorate them so they were very weird looking and the piping bags failed me a bit, however next time I am going to take more time and use better techniques when icing. The colours of the icing varied, although my base colours were orange, yellow, blue and purple and the appearance of the biscuits were marbled, flowers and a love heart. 

All in all the biscuits turned out OK, improvements are needed, but still a moderate success. Anyway, the next post will be a very exciting one because I am making an Aussie classic but with a cool twist.

Chocolate Crackles

Snap! Crackle! Pop!

This week I made my an all time kid's party favourite and they turned out absolutely delicious. My chocolate crackles were yummy, very very yummy and they were just as good as the one's I ate during childhood. This quick and easy recipe was a great hit at my house and were gone as quick as a flash, but don't worry, I still had enough left to take some photos and show you guys one of my dessert favourites.

The best thing about these chocolate crackles was probably everything, this was the one week when everything turned out perfectly without any mistakes or injuries. The crackles were crunchy, chocolaty and delicious. They were probably my best dessert apart from the American Brownies so far. Next time I make this recipe I will definitely make more because they ran out way too quickly at my house. The appearance of the chocolate crackles was quite pleasing with crunchy rice bubbles coated in the sweet chocolate mixture that held them together. The texture was crunchy due to the rice bubbles and coconut in the chocolate mixture and most importantly the taste was very sweet, melt in your mouth chocolate flavour, complemented by the light taste of the rice bubbles.

That's it for my chocolate crackles post so I hope it inspires you to revisit the old favourite and give it a go yourselves. Next stop, biscuit decorating, which should be very interesting.

Apple Galette

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Hey folks! I’m back and I have made a very exciting dessert that has originated from a place none other than France, the dessert capital of the world. The Apple Galette is a type of very thin tart with thinly sliced, caramelised apples placed in a circular pattern. My version of this fabulous dessert turned out pretty well but there are definite improvements to be made to the dish if I make it again.

                                                            

The best component within the dish was probably the apples. The time and effort to make them pretty and well placed paid off and luckily they looked very impressive in their little circular patterns. The thing that didn’t turn out too great was the pastry as I found it overly salty and a little bit under cooked. To avoid this next time I think I will put less salt and as it was crumbly, a little bit of water to hold it together. I would on a whole cook the Apple Galette for longer so the apples caramelise more and the pastry would be crunchier, but other than that it was a success. To sum this blog up, the general appearance of the Galette was very pretty as it was rounded with a swirly caramelised apple pattern, the taste was good however it could be improved and the texture was pleasing however a little crumbly.

Anyway, sorry about the wait for this post I've been a busy bee and I’ll get back to you guys later on. Next blog will be either biscuit decorating or chocolate crackles and I'm really looking forward to telling you guys about how they went. See ya later people.

American Brownies

Roses are red, violets are blue, brownies are brown and chocolate is too!

Did you know that Brownies were created by mistake because the chef didn’t have baking powder? Yep, I made the one and only American Brownies and they tasted delicious. Extremely rich, chocolaty and delicious, my chocolate brownies were a real winner.

The whole cooking process was very smooth sailing and no major problems occurred, although when I first took them out of the oven I believed they hadn’t been cooked long enough because they were very soft and crumbly. Luckily I was then informed that they were supposed to be like that, which made me feel a little ignorant. Next time I make the brownies I will probably make even more of them! They tasted so good that they ran out within a few days! The taste of the brownies was divine, probably because they had very expensive Dutch cocoa in them (Woolworths ran out of normal cocoa) and they were very rich as they had cooking chocolate, cocoa and real butter in them. The appearance of the brownies was quite pleasing to the eye because they were a dark, chocolaty brown dusted with icing sugar like snowflakes.

That’s it for another post people, so stay tuned because next time I will be reviewing a French dessert called Apple Galette which is a pretty awesome looking sweet dish. Anyway see you later! 

Rainbow Cupcakes

Somewhere over the rainbow, where skies are blue

That’s right I have made some very beautiful rainbow cupcakes. Perfect multi-coloured arches and fluffy white clouds adorned my sky blue cupcakes in the form of sour straps and very sweet icing. It took around three hours to make and decorate the cupcakes and it sure did accumulate a lot of mess and washing up. The idea for these cupcakes originally came from a very impressive cooking blog and the recipe for the cupcake batter came from a cake, muffin and biscuit book that I got from my aunt.

The whole of this dish was extremely successful but I believe that the thing I did best was probably the decorating of the cupcakes because I felt really proud of them after I had spread on the glaze icing, piped on the white clouds and arched the rainbow sour straps. The time and effort paid off with the decorating and I was really, really happy with it so that was the best component of the dish. Next time I do this dish I will probably use different utensils. When I was spreading the blue glaze on the cupcakes the icing was very stiff and was hard to put on with a knife. I would also make the butter cream clouds less rich because the sweetness was very overpowering and nearly took over the rest of the dish. The taste of the cupcakes was very sweet and the sponge was very light and fluffy which really complemented the sweet icing and sour straps. The general appearance of the cupcakes was a very blue sky with fluffy white clouds and a bright rainbow stretching across.

Anyway these cupcakes were a great dish to make and I would recommend it to anyone because they are super-duper easy and are great fun.

ANZAC Slice

Lest We Forget

Hey girls and guys, I just made my very first dessert for cooking in term 2, ANZAC slice, and it turned out as a moderate success. The slice was a recipe derived from the original ANZAC biscuit recipe that was sent to soldiers during the First World War. The biscuits were a little taste of home for the soldiers and they were specially made so that they would keep for months on end without going stale or making the soldiers sick. The biscuits were a token of support from the families and nation of the ANZACs and they are still baked today because of what they represent.

The best component within the dish was most likely the presentation of the slice and the visual quality of the slice. Unfortunately the slice was very hard when it had cooled and it was quite dry which greatly affected the taste of the dish. With this result in mind I've decided that the next time I make the slice I will cook it for a shorter time period and I will also put a slightly greater quantity of liquids in the mixture so it isn't as dry or rock solid. The dish on a whole was probably mediocre at best because the taste and texture made it quite difficult to enjoy. However the dish was very visually appealing because of its crunchy looking, honey brown appearance and this made it a little bit more successful, thank goodness.

Anyway ladies and gents, it's one week down and another six to go so wish me luck in my next cooking endeavour and hopefully it will turn out well with no injuries or ruined food.