Little Box Brownie

A Baking Blog from Melbourne, Australia

Recipe

Ginger & Walnut Slice

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I have been looking for a recipe that includes walnuts and ginger for the longest time, well ever since one of my most loyal and devoted readers told me how good the flavour combo was. At Christmas time when walnuts are around she gets a big bag full and some crystallised ginger and eats the two together. She suggested I should use them together in a recipe, so G this one is for you!!!

I was at the Auckland Airport, having been told my plane was to be over 3 hours late!!! So I was at the airport for nearly 6 hours waiting. My brother and sister in law hung out with me for as long as they could and then had to go to put the little one to bed. So to kill some time I went to look at the magazine racks, and I stumbled upon a New Zealand Magazine, Taste, that had this next little recipe in it. The recipe in fact comes from Elizabeth Messenger who was a 1950’s cooking icon. I snapped the magazine up and settled myself into a corner with a coffee and was transfixed with this magazine until my plane arrive. If you can get your hands on Taste I would highly recommended it. I have even written to them to ask if I can get it anywhere in Oz. Oh by the way the flavour combo is fantastic.
Enjoy xxx
Sophia

 
Ginger and Walnut Slice
 
100g butter
100g brown sugar
2 egg yolks
170g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons of water (optional)
 
Meringue Topping
 
50g walnuts (chopped)
2 egg whites
100g brown sugar
70g crystallised ginger (chopped)
 
Preheat the oven to 150C
 
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add the yolks one at a time beating after each addition. Sift the flour, baking powder and ginger into the bowl, and stir to combine. If the mixture is to dry and doesn’t come together to form a dough, add the water, and form a dough. Press the mixture into a lined 30x20cm tin and sprinkle the walnut over the top. 
To make the topping, place the egg whites in a bowl and whisk with and electric beater until soft peaks form. Slowly add the brown sugar while still whisking, whisk until the mixture is glossy. Fold in the ginger and smooth over the top of the base. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked, serve with a fresh pot of tea.

Orange Blossom Pancakes

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During my trip to New Zealand, my sister in law and I went to a fantastic little coffee shop, Atlas in Ponsonby, where we had some out of this world pancakes. We had only dropped in to have a coffee on our shopping expedition of Kitchen shops around the Ponsonby area. However when we saw the menu, well what can I say – it was destiny. We had to give the pancakes a try.
They where Orange blossom pancakes served with seasonal fruit and natural yogurt. Talk about yummy!
When I returned to Australia, I had to try and recreate the recipe, so went on the search for orange blossom water which is not as easy as you would think to find. I ended up finding some at a little turkish cafe/supermarket.
I couldn’t resist opening the bottle to have a smell on the way home, I was expecting a beautiful orange zesty smell, boy oh boy was I wrong, the stuff stinks, I mean it smells really, really bad. It smells like old ladies – kind of musty. Oh well I thought I spent $5 on this bottle I may a well see what its like. All the way through making the pancakes I was still unsure if I should use it as I wanted beautiful tasting pancakes, but I persisted, and I’m glad I did as the taste is subtle but slightly there and gives the pancakes a great orange taste, that the orange juice alone doesn’t give. So when you make them you may think you can leave out the orange blossom water, but don’t!! Consider yourself warned, or you won’t get the full flavour.
Orange Blossom Pancakes
 
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup juice from an orange
1 egg
60g butter (melted)
1 teaspoon orange water
1/3 cup of sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Butter to fry
 
Place the buttermilk, orange juice, egg, butter and orange blossom water into a bowl and whisk to break up the egg and combine the ingredients. Sift in the flour and baking soda and whisk until all the ingredients have combined and you have a thickish batter. 
Heat a non stick pan with a little butter, use a 1/3 measuring cup to scoop up the mixture and pour into the saucepan, when the mixture starts to form little bubbles, flip it over, when cooked remove from the heat. Add a little more butter and repeat.
 
Makes 7 large pancakes

Guava Jelly

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Last weekend I went to New Zealand to spend the weekend with my brother and his family. I got to spend the whole weekend with my adorable little Nephew, who is just starting to speak. His favourite word is ‘spider’ which he terms ‘pider’ anything and everything that moves like a spider is a ‘pider’, its so adorable. He’s the cutest little chap.

 
They have a smallish guava tree at their place which produces so many little fruits, it was incredible. They were covering the ground turning it red. So me being me thought I have to do something with all these little fruits, and not let them go to waste. I had never seen the fruit before much less cooked  with it, however that didn’t stop me collecting a bowl full. It even started to rain when I was collecting them, and I thought maybe this is a sign that these berry’s are poisonous and I shouldn’t be cooking them, however I persisted and collected a bowl full. When Tracy (my sister in law) got home, she saw the bowl of guavas sitting in the sink soaking and pulled out another two bags from the freezer that she too had collected, as she doesn’t like seeing things go to waste either. So we had a mission, to cook something out of these little fruits. Good old google to the rescue – we discovered the different things you can do with them. In the end we decided to make a Jelly, which is much like a jam, but doesn’t have the pulp of the fruit –  you make it using the liquids.
We needed some mesh to strain it so we set out to a little kitchen shop in Ponsonby called Milly’s, its jam packed full with kitchenware’s and has every possible kitchen gadget you could ever want to get your hands on. Tracy brought the mesh and the beautiful colander you see in the photos, as well as some awesome gadgets that I will show you in other posts. I ended up buying the cute little jars that I haven’t been able to find in Oz, needless to say we were two very happy girls leaving Milly’s. If you’re ever in Auckland check them out, you’re sure to leave with a smile on your dial!
Guava Jelly
 
1.5 kg guavas
1/2 cup water
2 cups of sugar (amount depends on the amount of juice)
half a lemon
 
Place the guavas and water into a big saucepan, and boil until the fruit becomes soft and begins to break  apart. Remove from the heat, and strain through a piece of mesh for 24 hours.
 
For every cup of liquid that you get from the guavas, use a cup of sugar. We had 2 cups of juice so used two cups of sugar. Place the sugar and juice into a saucepan and boil for approximately 20 minutes or until the jelly sets when you put a small amount on a plate. Just before you remove it squeeze half a lemon into the mixture.
Pour into some sterilised jars and seal.

Anzac Biscuits

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The 25th of April is ANZAC day in Australia and New Zealand, it is the day we as nations remember our fallen soldiers.
The ANZAC’s (Australian and New Zealand Army Corp) landed in Gallipoli in World War One, on the 25th of April 1915, to try to take the Gallipoli peninsular in order to open it up for the allied forces. They were met with strong resistance and the campaign lasted for 8 months. The attempt failed and the troops where eventually pulled out, not before thousands of lives where lost.
ANZAC day marks the first major battle undertaken by New Zealand and Australia, and remains the day we remember those who lost their lives.

It is said that this next recipe ANZAC biscuits were baked by the wife’s of the soldiers because of there longevity, they would take months to get to the soldiers and had to last the journey to the troops. This recipe is my Great Aunt Joyce’s and is delicious. I have added the ice cream in the middle for something a bit different, its up to you, they are great on their own and a great staple to have about the house.

Enjoy.

ANZAC Biscuits
 
1 cup plain flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup coconut
125g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
 
Pre heat the oven to 180C
 
Place the flour, oats, sugar and coconut into a bowl, and stir to combine. Place the butter golden syrup and water into a saucepan and heat on a medium heat until the butter has melted and the ingredients combined. Remove from the heat and stir through the baking soda. Stir through the dry ingredients until the mixture is combined. Roll into balls and place on a tray, press down with a fork and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden. 
 
Makes 20