Browned Butter, Blueberry and White Chocolate Friands

If you have leftover egg whites from making pastry or custard, a great way to use them up is to make friands (known in some parts of the world as financiers).  Australian friands are traditionally baked in a unique pan with oval shaped wells, but you could also bake them in muffin tins if you don't have a special friend tin.

I have a friend who loves white chocolate, so I found the perfect friand for him when I found Carrot and Crumb's recipe for Browned Butter, Blueberry and White Chocolate Friands.  The browned butter gives the friands a lovely nutty flavour, the white chocolate adds a lovely caramelly sweetness, and the blueberries add fruity lusciousness.

If you would like to make these, you will need:

140g butter
100g almond meal
50g plain flour
130g icing sugar
5 egg whites
80g blueberries
80g chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Spray a 12 hole friand or muffin tin liberally with spray oil.

Put the butter into a saucepan over medium heat and heat the butter until it turns golden brown.  Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, almond meal and icing sugar.  

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they are frothy, then pour them into the flour mixture and fold in to  combine.

Pour the browned butter into the mixture and fold through gently.  Reserve 24 blueberries, and gently fold the remaining blueberries and the white chocolate into the mixture.

Divide the mixture evenly between the friend or muffin tin holes.  Place two blueberries on top of each friand and press down lightly.

Bake the friands in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.

Remove the friands from the oven and gently turn out onto a wire rack to cool.  If they stick, run a knife around the edge of the friend or muffin holes to loosen.

Allow the friands to cool completely before lightly dusting with icing sugar to serve.

Hacienda Sydney, Circular Quay

When we were in Sydney in November, Tim spotted a new-to-us bar from the ferry as we were pulling into Circular Quay.  It stood out because of the plants thrusting out from the balcony. We decided to check it out.

The bar in question is Hacienda, meaning a large estate or plantation: 

The impressive art deco style entrance, set above the boardwalk at Circular Quay, leads into a spacious, airy bar with magnificent views of Sydney Harbour:

The lady in the front left of my photo had an impressive looking drink that I wanted to try. It is a Fresa Spritz ($20), with St Germain liqueur, strawberry syrup, soda water and Prosecco:

It tasted as good as it looks and was very refreshing - perfect for a warm day. 

To accompany our drinks, we ordered the trio of dips with tortilla chips ($17):

The dips were beetroot, baba ganoush and hommus.  There are some more substantial options available on the menu if you wish to have your main meal at Hacienda

This is just one of the stunning views from Hacienda:

We stayed until after dark when the black velvet of the sky was illuminated by the city lights.  It was rather magical, and all of the tourists (including ourselves)  took turns photographing each other against the breathtaking backdrop.

Hacienda is the perfect place to have a drink in a stunning atmosphere, and is well worth seeking out.

Hacienda Sydney
61 Macquarie St

Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: (02) 9256 4083

Baklava Slice - QBC

A while ago, the Queen Baking Club recipe was Baklava Slice - a mashup between baklava and a slice, making it a little easier to eat than a traditional baklava.

This nutty slice contains cinnamon, pecans, walnuts and in my case, almonds, smothered in an orange-kissed honey syrup. 

If you are looking for a break from chocolate treats, or have some leftover nuts from the Christmas feast, this slice is a delicious treat which is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

You can join the Queen Baking Club on Facebook here.  A new recipe is posted every second Friday.

Beef and Lemongrass Meatloaf - Helen Goh recipe

How were your Christmas celebrations?  I hope you had a fabulous time with family and friends.

Now that Christmas is over, it is back to normal in the eating and drinking department.  If you are looking for a break from that leftover turkey and ham, I can highly recommend Helen Goh's Chicken and Lemongrass Meatloaf.  Helen states that it can also be made with pork or beef mince, so I chose beef.

This meatloaf is unique in that it contains lots of Asian flavours - lemongrass, chilli, ginger, coriander, fish sauce and soy.  It is quite a big meatloaf - I got 10 serves out of it, perfect for freezing some for another day.

If you would like to try this meatloaf, you will need:

2 slices white bread
120ml milk
2 tablespoons oil
1 chopped onion
2 minced cloves garlic
thumb sized knob of ginger, minced
2 minced stalks lemongrass
1 minced red chilli
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves and stalks
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 lightly beaten eggs
1 kg chicken, pork or beef mince
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Glaze

2 tablespoons sriracha sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Tear the crusts off the bread and rip the slices into small pieces. Put the bread pieces in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle over the milk, and set aside to soak.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent. Add garlic, ginger, lemongrass and chilli, cook for a minute, then remove from heat. Add the onion mixture to the bread mixture and allow to cool.

Add the coriander, fish sauce, soy sauce, eggs, sugar, salt and pepper to the bowl and mix with your hands to combine. Add the minced meat and mix gently until combined. Chill the mixture in the fridge and preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Press the mixture into a 23cm x 12cm x 7cm loaf tin, packing it down to remove any air pockets. Cover the pan loosely with a large, double layer of aluminium foil, then place a rimmed baking tray over it. Carefully flip over the tray so that the foil is on the bottom and the meatloaf is upside down, with the loaf tin over it. Loosen the foil and spread it out, as if lining the base of the baking tray. Put the meatloaf in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. 

Remove the meatloaf from the oven and carefully lift off the loaf tin. Return the meatloaf to the oven without the loaf tin and bake for a further 20 minutes. 

While the meatloaf is cooking, make the glaze by combining the glaze ingredients in a small bowl.

Remove the meatloaf from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 22o degrees Celsius. Spoon the glaze over the top of the meatloaf and return it to the oven to bake for another 10 minutes, brushing the meatloaf with the glaze a couple of times during that time. 

Take the meatloaf out of the oven and allow it to rest on the baking tray for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Merry Christmas from Melbourne!!

Mitre Tavern

St Collins Lane

Federation Square

Federation Square

St Collins Lane

Auburn Hotel

Malvern Town Hall

Work choir (Photo credit: Anh Nguyen) 

Arts Centre

Federation Square

TWD - Alsatian Christmas Bread

Merry Christmas! For the last Tuesday with Dorie this year, our recipe is Alsation Christmas Bread.  It is not bread in the traditional sense, but rather is comprised of dried fruits, nuts and almond meal.  It is also known as "baerewecke", meaning "pear bread".

As its name suggests, dried pears are an important element of the dried fruits.  I used some glace pears that I had bought at a French festival. There are also prunes, dried apricots, dried figs and sultanas.  These are joined by chopped walnuts, black pepper, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, ginger and cardamom.

The result is not pretty, but if you are a fan of dried fruit, it is utterly delicious.  the spices make the Alsatian Christmas bread perfect for the holiday season.

To see what everyone else made this week, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.

May your Christmas be blessed.

Nectarine and Blueberry Cake

It is summer in Australia, and with summer comes all of the best fruits.  I love stone fruits, tropical fruits and berries, and they are all cheap and available at the moment.

A great way to enjoy your favourite  fruits, apart from just eating them au naturel, is to include them in your baking.  Recently, Jordan Rondel featured a lovely recipe for a nectarine and blueberry cake which is a perfect way to showcase two summer fruits.  Best of all, it is very easy to make. 

The cake is double layered, and sandwiched together with a luscious cream cheese frosting:

If you'd like to try this wonderful summery treat, you will need:

150g butter

150 sugar
3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100g almond meal

100g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup sour cream

2 nectarines sliced into thin sections

1 cup fresh blueberries

Frosting*

150g butter

2 cups icing sugar

100g cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease and line 2 x 22cm cake tins.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy.  One at a time, beat in the eggs, then beat in the vanilla.  Fold in the almond meal, flour, baking powder and salt, then the sour cream.

Divide the mixture evenly between two tins.  Evenly place the nectarine slices and blueberries on top of each cake and press down lightly.    Bake for 30 minutes or until cooled through, rotating the pans half way through the cooking time.

Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before unmoulding onto wire racks to cool.

To make the frosting, beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth and creamy.  Beat in the icing sugar.  Cube the cream cheese, then beat it into the mixture gradually until the frosting is smooth.  

Spread half the frosting between the cake layers to sandwich them together, and spread the remaining half of the frosting over on top of the cake.  (* Or do what I did, and halve the frosting and only put frosting in between the two cake layers.)