Recipe

Magic fruit cake

December 20, 2013 by Sophia 28 Comments

Do you have a secret hiding place? A place where you keep all your little keep sakes, I’m not talking about all your gold and riches I’m talking about those little trinkets that remind you of where you have been and what you have done through out your life. The tickets to the opera or theatre, newspaper clippings, photos of treasured things, cards that people have given you, anything really that you want to keep but don’t really look at on a day to day basis. Well my Mum does, she likes to hid them in books, and not just her books, but my books too. She finds little things and puts them in a book.

The other day I was going through a very old cookbook that I have, in fact its so old and used it no longer has a cover, I would say it was very much loved. As I was making my way through this little book all sorts of little treasures where falling out at me, and then a recipe written in older style appeared, now I don’t know where it came from or who’s it was, but the little recipe written beautifully was called a ‘magic fruit cake’, well it had me at magic, I naturally had to make it.

On the back of the recipe it talks of people, their occupations, where they died and who they married. Because my Mum has been doing her family tree forest, I naturally presume she got talking to some one and they have written it down for her to give to me, and it has found its way into one of my many cookbooks waiting to be discovered and discovered it was.

It consists of five ingredients, apricot nectar (sounds like a drink from the gods, that had me too), brandy (a must in all good fruit cakes), fruit (wouldn’t be a fruit cake without it, would it?), and some flour and some spice (I used 2, nutmeg and some cinnamon).

So with these simple five ingredients, that fact it said magic and that it fell out at me just in time for christmas, I simply had to bake it. All signs lead to cake.

Magic Fruit Cake

1 kg fruit (I just used sultana’s)

2 cups apricot nectar or 1/2 cup of brandy and 1 1/2 cups of nectar)

2 cups wholemeal flour

2 teaspoons of spice ( the choice is yours)

Place the fruit, nectar and brandy into a big bowl and set aside for 24 hours.

Pre heat the oven to 160C

Sift the flour and spice together and stir through the fruit. It will look like there is to much flour and not enough liquid, but just keep stirring it in.

Pour the mixture into a lined round 23 cm cake tin and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until cooked.

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa la la la la, la la la la. It’s the season to be jolly. I hope your all getting your Christmas hats on, and starting some of that good old Christmas Baking. After all what would Christmas be without a baked good, or two, mmm, or three, or four? Well it just wouldn’t be Christmas now would it? No most certainly not.

I kicked off my Christmas Baking with my Christmas pudding, which from what I’m told should be baked on the last Sunday in November, and thats exactly when I baked it. If I do say so myself it looks pretty dam divine. It’s sitting in the back of my pantry infusing with flavour and lugs of good old Christmas brandy. Just waiting for Christmas day. I love the traditions of Christmas.

This time, I have brought you another not so traditional Chrissy baked good, but what else would do but a sweet tempting little morsel of a brownie? Not any sort of brownie, a special prune brownie soaked in almond alcohol, is so soft and moist and just oozes Christmas tidings. I would sum it up as a Christmas cake brownie, mmm that sums it up nicely.

This recipe is perfect for gift giving this season, if you want to make something homemade to give to friends and loved ones, this is it, or if you just need to take a plate to a party, who’s going to resist a brownie that screams Christmas.

So if this brownie is screaming to you, you better jot the recipe down quick smart and get to it.

Happy Baking xxx

Prune Brownie soaked in Almond liqueur

20 prunes, stones removed

1 cup almond liqueur

375 g dark chocolate

300g butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 cups flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

4 eggs

Place the prunes and liqueur into a saucepan and heat until the mixture starts to simmer. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler until the chocolate has melted and the ingredients combined. Remove from the heat the stir through the sugar.

Sift the flour and cocoa powder together and then stir to combine, add the eggs one at a time beating after each addition.

Add the prunes and combine. Pour into a 20x30cm brownie tin and bake for 45 minutes or until cooked. Cool on a wire rack then cut when cooled.

Peanut Brittle Slice

November 21, 2013 by Sophia 21 Comments

Well… doesn’t time fly when your having fun? It seems to be flying for me even when I’m not. I can’t for the life of me believe how quickly the weeks are blurring together to form months. Its been nearly 3 weeks since my last post, I think thats a bit of a record. Its not that I haven’t had recipes to put up, in fact I have a number of them, its just that I haven’t found the time. So I hope no one has been waiting for their next sugary fix.
Wedding season is back in full gear and between that and spending every free minute sanding little Miss Daisy, which has had its fair number of dramas I might add, I have just lost track of time,

This next recipe is one I made months ago, so many months ago I can’t even recall why. but its good, supper tasty in fact, just a little on the hard side to eat.

Peanut Brittle Chocolate Slice

Base

200 g butter

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

Filling

1/2 cup corn syrup

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 water

50g butter

2 cups unsalted peanuts

1/4 cup cream

Topping

250g dark chocolate

50g butter

pre heat the oven to 170C

To make the base, cut the butter into cubes and rub into the flour and baking powder until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Then stir through the sugar and combine the egg until the mixture forms a dough. Press this into a 20 x 30 cm tin and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown, remove from the oven and set aside.

To make the filling, place the corn syrup, sugar and water into a saucepan and heat until the mixture becomes golden, swirl the pot rather than stirring the ingredients, or alternatively use a wet pastry brush to brush down the sides. Remove from the heat and stir through the butter and cream, be very carful as the mixture with splatter and rise up. Stir through the peanuts and pour into the base immediately.

To make the topping, place the chocolate and butter into a double boiler and heat until the chocolate has melted. Pour over the slice and leave to cool. Cut when cooled.

Super Yummy Raspberry Tart

October 31, 2013 by Sophia 24 Comments

Let me introduce you to the newest member of the Little Box Brownie Family, My newest Toy, the most exciting purchase ever, the cuties thing you ever did see………….. Drum roll please……….

My little 1950’s bondwood caravan. Isn’t she a dream? Granted she needs a lot of work, but isn’t she cute?

I told you a few months ago about my mid life crisis and how I was looking for a little caravan well I found her just a couple of k’s down the road, there she stood in the middle of a huge paddock, with daises spring up around her. I didn’t even look inside her as the owner couldn’t find the key but she was just what I was looking for so I told him I would take her. Well he looked at me like are your serious, your going to take her? Yep I’ll take her! He asked me quite a few times if I wanted to think about it, nope I said I’ll take her.
You realise she needs a lot of work he asked, and you don’t want to look inside?, yep thats fine I’ll take her. So I gave him a deposit and said I would be back. I was going to have to get new tyres for her before I could drive her as hers tyres where flat and cracked. So the lovely gentleman I brought her off said he would get some and change them for me.
In order to thank him for changing the tyres for me and selling me his awesome caravan, I baked him and his wife this little tart. Nothing is better than home baked goodness, well not in my book there isn’t.

I haven’t thought of a name for her yet any ideas?
My list so far is…

Little B
Cookies and cream (because she will be cream) I can’t take credit for this name, it was my sisters.
truly scrumptious (because when I drive around with her I sing the song from chitty chitty bangbang, your truly scrumptious, yes truly, truly scrumptious. (at the top of my lungs I might add)
Miss daisy (Because I’m driving miss daisy)
Gerty
lola
Cupcake (cos she is so cute)

Raspberry Tart

Pastry

125g butter

1 3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup almond meal

1 egg

Filling

75g butter

1 Tablespoon flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 egg

1 cup raspberries

To make the base, place the butter, flour, sugar and almond meal into a food processor, and process until fine breadcrumbs form. Then add the egg and pulse a few times until a dough forms.

Roll out and place in a lined 12x35cm tray, place in the fridge for 30minutes.

Pre heat the oven to 160C

Blind bake the tart case for 10 minutes then remove the beans and bake for another 10minutes or until golden.

To make the filling,place the butter into a saucepan and heat until the butter melts and starts to foam, remove from the heat and set aside.

Place the flour, sugar and egg into a bowl, using and electric beater, whisk until light and fluffy. Slowly pour in the butter while whisking until it is all incorporated.

Place the raspberries into the tart case and pour over the mixture.

Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. or until golden