Little Box Brownie

A Baking Blog from Melbourne, Australia

Recipe

Lime Madeleine’s

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Bonjour! I hope you have all been well, I have been neglecting my little blog over the past couple of weeks, but I have a great excuse……  I’ve been on holiday. Yay!!
I have spent the past nine days cruising the seven seas, ok maybe not quite seven seas. I have been on board a P&O ship, the Pacific Jewel. I haven’t had to cook, clean or even make my bed, I have had other people doing it all for me. Now thats what I call a holiday, complete laziness. My sister and I sailed to Port Vila, Mare, and the Isle of Pines. If you want a nice tropical island, to get lost on, I would highly recommend the Isle of Pines, amazing beaches, I have never felt sand like it (and I live in Australia the land of amazing beaches), beautiful, friendly people and great food to try. I would pass on Mare, and I really didn’t see much of Port Villa, but the people seemed friendly and others said it was stunning. Because I visited a couple of French speaking Islands, I thought that gave me the prefect excuse to bake some Madeleine’s, after all they are very French.

Madeleine’s are a cross between a little cake and a biscuit, there crunch on the outside and a dense sponge in the middle. I had never made them and didn’t really know what the fuss was all about, I was expecting a sponge in the form of a sea shell, but boy, oh boy was I wrong. They are Devine, and I would definitely bake them again. I had problems with my first tray they all stuck to the moulds, so my big tip is use lots of butter, as the second batch was just fine and they slipped out, you could use a non stick tray, but I happened to have and old french one that my mum had found in Akaroa at La Folie Jolie, so naturally had to use that.
Now as the french say, and Julia Child…. Bon-appetit
Enjoy xxx

Lime Madeleines
 
60g butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
1 tablespoon of lime rind
 
Syrup
1/3 cup lime juice
1/4 cup icing sugar
 
Pre heat oven to 180C. Butter moulds.
 
Melt the butter in the microwave and set aside.
Using and electric beater, whisk the eggs until they becomes light in colour, then slowly add the sugar, whisk for about 5 minutes on high. 
Fold through the flour and lime rind until well incorporate. Pour the melted butter into the bowl around the sides and fold into the mixture. Leave the mixture to the side for 20 minutes, this will make the madeleines a little denser. Spoon the mixture into the little moulds and bake for 15 minutes or until cooked. 
 
To make the syrup, mix the lime juice and icing sugar together, once incorporate brush onto the madeleines and serve.

Chocolate Cheese Cake

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I bet you can’t guess where I am? Go on give it a go!
 Nope not even close!
I’m sitting on a ship in the middle of Sydney harbour. I can look across and see the Opera house and the Harbour Bridge. This would have to be one of the most impressive views in the city if not the whole of Australia. All I need now is a cocktail and perhaps a slice of this next recipe, that I prepared earlier, a Chocolate Cheese cake and I would be in total heaven. Happy Eating!!
Chocolate Cheese Cake
 
Base
 
125g plain biscuits
1/4 cup dutch cocoa
1/4 cup chocolate chips
80g butter
 
Filling
 
1/4 cup warm – hot water
2 teaspoons gelatine
250g cream cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup castor sugar
100g dark chocolate
1 cup of whipped cream
 
To make the base, place all the ingredients into a food processor and process until fine bread crumbs form. Tip the crumbs into a spring form tin and press down until the base is firm.
 
To make the filling, place the gelatine in the water and stir until the gelatine dissolves, then put aside.
 
In a separate bowl beat the cream cheese and sugar with and electric beater, then slowly add the milk until incorporated. Melt the chocolate either in the microwave or a double boiler, then stir into the cream cheese mixture along with the gelatine mix. Then slowly fold through the whipped cream and pour onto the base in the tin. Place in the refrigerator for 3 hours or until set. Before removing from the tin use a knife to cut around the edge so the cheese cake doesn’t stick.
 
Serve with your choice of topping, or on its own.
 
 

Carrot Cake

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Carrot Cake would have to be my all time favourite cake. Every time I return to my home town, I can’t resist going to a little cafe (zigg zagg) in the city of Napier that serves one amazing carrot cake. Its the most moist carrot cake I have ever had, it just melts in your mouth. I have tried for years to bake something remotely close to it, and this next recipe is the closest I think I have come. I have topped the cakes with some apricots, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds like they do at this little cafe, it adds to the texture and makes the cake even better. The icing is a must, an absolute must in any carrot cake and quite simply makes it. Carrot cake without icing is like, a chocolate cake without chocolate, bacon and eggs without the bacon, bread without flour, its just not right. So if you decide to make this cake without the icing don’t say you weren’t warned. Enjoy xxx


Carrot Cake

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons Nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup of oil
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup walnuts
2 cups carrots
 
Icing
1 1/4 cups icing sugar
200g cream cheese
1 medium lemon
 
 
Pre heat oven to 180C
Sift the flour, spices and baking powder into a bowl, add the sugar then stir through. Add in the eggs, oil and milk and stir until combined. Stir through the walnuts and carrot then pour into 3 small loaf tins 9x15cm.
Cook for 45minutes or until cooked. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before icing.
 
To make the icing, place the cream cheese into a bowl and sift in the icing sugar, using an electric beater beat until smooth then stir through the lemon juice.

 

Easter Nests

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These are the simplest little gifts you can make this easter, to give to family and friends. They only require three ingredients, four if you count the easter eggs. I first saw these made by a wonderful lady who was making them for her grandchildren she made them into biscuits and they were a huge hit. So I decided to adapt the idea to make some birds nest, to fill with some chocolate eggs for easter.
Birds Nests
 
1 bag of fried noodles
1 tablespoon peanut butter
250g milk chocolate
 
Melt the chocolate in the microwave in a heat proof bowl, stir through the peanut butter. Then pour in the noodles and stir until they are covered in chocolate. Spoon into some little round moulds that are covered in plastic wrap so they can be removed with ease. Spread the mixture around to form little nests place in the fridge until set, then fill with some chocolate eggs.