Milo Panna Cotta

                           milo panna cotta with milo cereal rubble

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Ahhhh a food "earworm" ....

When I opened the tin of biscuit crumbs in last weeks post I thought "just like a Milo tin" and that's all it took for Milo, Milo, Milo, Milo to be stuck in my head. 

"Solved" with a trip to the supermarket where I bought myself a tin of Milo and a brand of gelatine sheets I hadn't tried before... all came together as today's Milo panna cotta. We have loved Milo here in Oz since it was first launched in 1934 at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, brainchild of Australian Thomas Mayne. 

Milo /ˈmaɪloʊ/ is a chocolate and malt powder that is mixed with hot or cold water or milk to produce a beverage popular mainly in Australia and New Zealand and some other parts of the world. wikipedia

'Milo' takes it name from Milo Of Croton a 6th century BC champion wrestler. Milo products to this day have sport related themes. 

Apart from the drinking powder, Milo comes in other products too like premix, ice-cream and the cereal I'm using today for the topping adding part of the much needed textural crunch. 

Lets start with gelatine leaves that are the setting agent in our panna cotta.

New to leaves? Leaves are used for a smoother mouth feel and/or a clearer finish. There is no gelatine after taste either. Great product for panna cotta. Somewhat confusing bloom strength grading system from bronze to titanium. Bloom strength is how firm your jelly (Jello) will be. 

I usually buy gold or occasionally titanium gelatine leaves from chef supply stores. I was happy to see gelatine leaves in the supermarket but surprised when I purchased it's not marked on pack what strength the leaves are. Checking McKenzies online I found out 'McKenzie’s Gelatine powder has bloom strength of 210 – 240 g (Platinum strength). McK Gelatine leaves have a bloom strength of 220 – 250g (also Platinum strength).'

Oh. That was my though "Oh" there may have been a slight expletive following that. Just a little suprised but I love McKenzies, it's the brand of baking powder and soda I use. 

McKenzies have a recipe for panna cotta with 6 gelatine leaves on their site. That's too much for our panna cottas so I made two batches with far less gelatine, one with 3 leaves and one with two... now I'd prefer two or less but for no fail getting the little ones out of the ramekins lets go with three where you still get a nice wobble particularly on the moulded ones. 

Panna cotta is easy, it's the same as making homemade jelly or Jello just with dairy for the liquid. This recipe makes four 125 ml serves (four 1/2 cups) or eight 1/4 cups. Set in glasses or in ramekins to turn out.

Ingredients Panna Cotta

250ml of double cream

250ml of milk (I use 2% because that's all I had)

I tsp of pure vanilla extract

15 grams of sugar

60 grams of Milo powder

3 platinum gelatine leaves

Fresh raspberries for top

milo cereal, lightly crushed cocoa nibs and freeze dried raspberries to top panna cotta

Ingredients for Chocolate Rubble 

Chocolate flake breakfast cereal (I used Milo cereal)

Cocoa nibs, broken roughly

Freeze dried raspberries 

Optional extra toppings

Chocolate sauce

Berry sauce

Vanilla whipped cream with Milo powder on top

Method 

Soak three *gelatine leaves in a bowl with three cups of cold water for 5 to 10 minutes. After that time you should be ready to use, remove leaves from bowl and squeeze out excess water. 

Put the cream, milk, sugar, vanilla into saucepan and heat until almost boiling but not... you know you can see teeny bubbles starting to form around edge of pan. 

Quickly add the milo powder and whisk to completely dissolve. 

gelatine leaves with water squeezed out

Swap the whisk for spoon you don't want to add extra air/bubbles at this stage.

Remove saucepan from heat and add the soaked gelatine leaves that you have squeezed the water from. 

Stir with spoon for at least 3 minutes, even when you think it's okay after one minute the *three minutes stirring ensures the gelatine is fully incorporated. 

Divide the mixture between the glasses or ramekins you are using. 

Leave to cool, then refridgerate (covered) for six to 24 hours. 

unmoulded from 1/4 cup ramekin Milo panna cotta

inside texture 

You want to serve your panna cotta chilled but not "fridge cold", leave glasses at room temperature for 10 minutes before topping and serving. To unmould panna cotta, dip the base/sides of each ramekin quickly into hot water and gently turn out. 

Top with chocolate rubble and fresh raspberries, don't worry if you don't have all matching glasses the same amount of rubble/raspberries will tie the dessert theme together. 

Use to optional sauces or whipped cream as desired. 

Notes: 

* don't have Milo available in your supermarket, look out for it in your asian grocery store.

* if on the off chance after adding your gelatine and stirring 3 minutes you have a little gelatine undissolved in your mix you can put your saucepan on a gentle heat, stirring until it's melted. 

* you can omit the sugar completely if you don't have a sweet tooth, there is sugar already in the Milo. 

Happy Baking :) 

Lime paneer and paneer parantha (Indian Cheese Flatbread)

                             lime smoked paneer parantha 

Paneer is a fresh curd/cottage cheese common in South Asia, especially in Indian, Pakistani, Afghan, Nepali, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi cuisines.

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Surprised by limes was I.

An unprecedented bounty of limes on the backyard lime tree this year took me by surprise; at first I was enjoying the lime slices in soda and the freshly squeezed lime in salad dressings, followed by lime curd, lime sorbet and then came the slight panic that the limes will fall soon and the tree still seemed to have 1000 fast ripening limes. Juice has been frozen, zest is dehydrating and now I'm up to making lime paneer! 

This simple two ingredient fresh cheese can be used in many Indian/Indian inspired dishes such as the paneer parantha recipe today or anytime you need a cottage cheese. 

You'll need a deep colander lined with muslin and your ready to make your cheese.

Lime Paneer

Ingredients 

I litre or quart of full cream milk 

60 mls (2 fluid oz) of lime juice in small jug

Method 

In heavy based saucepan bring your milk almost to the boil, your milk will be hot and there will be tiny bubbles around the side of your saucepan. For those who love their cooks thermometer the milk will around 80 Celsius (175F). Turn off the heat.  

Immediately start adding your lime juice a drizzle at a time, stirring gently after each addition. Keep adding the lime juice/gently stirring until the milk separates and you have curd and whey.

gently stirring lime juice into hot milk

It doesn't look attractive at this stage, a pale green water with white floaty curd.

Leave the saucepan to cool for around 30 minutes, place your prepared colander in your kitchen sink before gently pouring in your milk mixture. 

Gather your muslin up from the sides, twist top and start to gently squeeze the excess whey (fluid) from the curds. The more whey that is removed the firmer your finished cheese will be. This will take a few minutes to do. 

cheese squeezed and ready to be pressed

Time to press into a block. Untwist the top of your muslin and wrap excess length around your cheese, place your cheese between two chopping boards and apply weight to the top board. Weight can be a stack of books to another saucepan filled with water, anything to squish the cheese. Leave your cheese for 30 to 45 minutes to press. 

Ta daaa! Finished fresh paneer/cottage cheese, you should have about 250g (8.8OZ).

From here you can use it in recipes like palek paneer the spinach and cheese curry and the stuffed flatbread parantha paneer. 

 I've included "Jimmy's" recipe video for making the flatbread, I have used his brand of atta flour... oddly recipe on side of flour is different than what is shown in video... both methods work. 

Parantha Paneer

Ingredients 

2 cups of *Atta flour (you can use wholemeal flour) 

1/2 tsp salt

150 ml luke warm water, more if needed. 

Plus a neutral oil for oiling your pan, I used Grapeseed oil. 

*atta flour is a semi strong indian grown/processed wholemeal flour perfect for making flatbread... you can see it's a finer mill than western wholemeal flour, worth seeking out but standard wholemeal flour will also work. Here atta flour is seen with salt added ready to be mixed. 

Food processor: place flour and salt in food processor and turn on whilst pouring enough water down chute to form a soft dough. 

Hand method: place flour in mixing bowl, whisk in salt and stir in enough water to form a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth. 

Both methods wrap the dough and allow to rest for 30 minutes. 

After resting, pinch off two small palm sized pieces of dough (mine were 50 grams each because I'm the weighing "type"). Roll or press both balls until they are around 10 cm (4 inches) in diameter.

Season your cheese with 1/2 tsp of salt and spices of choice and crumble. Love it hot? Green chopped chillies can be added now if desired. I also lightly smoked my cheese with a smoking gun at this stage for a faux oven flavour.

Top one of the rounds with seasoned paneer and in my case fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves. 

Take the second round and place on top of the filled round and pinch together to seal. 

Roll out the filled parcel until it is thin. I rolled mine on a non stick mat and did not add extra flour, if you are rolling a bench top, lightly flour your dough/rolling pin. 

I usually just roll a few at a time, cover to stop drying out between cooking each one.

Cook your flatbread on a hot pre heated crepe pan, frypan or flat griddle. I used an electric crepe maker set on maximum heat. If using non stick cookware a light brush of oil is all you will need, slightly more for stainless steel cookware. Bubbles form on surface of cooking flatbread, when nice and bubbled flip over. 

Once you flip your flat bread will puff up like a pillow (it will deflate on cooling), cook another minute or so until golden and remove from heat. At this stage you can brush on melted butter and stack in a flatbread basket or wrap to keep warm whilst you make the rest. 

Parantha is a stand alone snack served with indian pickles, a tamarind sauce etc, in the west you'll often see it eaten alongside curries curries too. I like it for brunch as it is... ohhh, mango pickle would be good. Unlike the lamb or cauliflower parantha the filling doesn't fall out, think of it more as an enriched bread with most of the cheese incorporating into the dough. 

Fun to make and eat, happy baking :) 

You might also be interested in a lightened Chocolate and Tia Maria Fridge Cake.   

Olive Bread: Rose's Bread Bible Bakers

                                              Olive bread 'The Bread Bible'

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I love an olive baguette, stands to reason I was looking forward to baking Rose's olive bread. 

Started with making a 'biga' (an Italian pre-ferment), it's easy, combine flour, a little instant yeast, a tad of optional malt powder with room temperature water.

Stirred until smooth and it comes away from the side of the bowl.

Placed in an oiled two cup container and covered for six hours, it's ready to use at this point or pop in fridge for up to three days. Mine was refrigerated for two days.

Ready for the mixer now (instructions are also included for hand and food processor mixing in 'The Bread Bible'). Flour, more yeast, biga are mixed together with water until a rough dough forms.

Rough dough mixed

After a short covered rest, salt is added and the dough is returned to the mixer to be kneaded until smooth.

Dough is covered and given a short time to relax before the olives are added. 

chopped kalamata olives mixed with a little flour

Dough is allowed to rise now until doubled in size. Shaped in a banneton or colander lined with a tea towel... and this the stage there is a slight hiccup, ok LARGE hiccup. 

I go to preheat the oven and the electrics were out, I could light the gas with a match but I can't run the oven without the fan. 

I stayed calm... ha ha no I didn't I had tears running down my face despite self talking to myself to "toughen up". I went and punched down the partially risen shaped loaf and froze the dough. 

Oh the fuse box!! Apparently you are supposed the check the fuse box outside, which I did the next day. Even though the switch marked oven was on there was a random unmarked switch down... yep, oven back on YAY!

Soooo, I defrosted the dough and baked it off in a batard (torpedo) loaf shape because it was faster. 

Hmmm, I thought the dough didn't look right defrosted and reshaped, though apart from not getting as much crust as I expect I would have gotten without freezing... all was good, delicious in fact. Well flavoured, moist, light but with just enough bite in the texture. 

Now the tomatoes... Nanna loved a grilled tomato and always made me grilled tomatoes on toast for breakfast, I liked them but like fresh too so I went a bit "Ottolenghi" and caramelised half the tomatoes in a pan, keeping the other half raw. Mixed together they top my olive toast. With a lemon olive dressing, baby basil and rough cut herbs, the best ever Sunday brunch on a hot summers day.

Happy Baking :) 

Today has been one of the 'Rose's Bread Bible Bakers' bakes where a group of fabulous bakers get together and bake from the pages of 'The Bread Bible'.

The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum is available from Amazon and all discerning book stores.  

You might also like Little Lemon and Lime Lamingtons Australia Day January 26th.   

"Levy's" Real Jewish Rye Bread: Rose's Bread Bible Bakers

"Levy's" Real Jewish Rye Bread 'The Bread Bible'

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Rose speaks of in 'The Bread Bible' that she likes rye bread 'studded with constellations of caraway seeds' and apparently I do too!! 

Ahh that moment your loaf of bread is so awesomely "perfect" and you are so excited and then realise it's hard to get people enthusiastic over a loaf of bread, but "dang" this was my perfect loaf, turning the corner, light bulb type moment in bread making.  

It started with me making a sponge (a starter), bread flour, rye flour, instant yeast, sugar, barley malt syrup and warm water all go in bowl.

Then it's mixed until it forms a smooth batter bubbly with air.

Ok, we are up to whisking the remainder of the bread flour with more instant yeast, caraway seeds and salt. The flour mixture was gently spooned over the sponge and covered with plastic wrap for night in the fridge.

Next morning there was much bubbling coming through the flour blank and after coming back to room temperature I used the kitchen aid (there is instructions for hand mixing) to knead.  

The resulting dough was placed in a raising container and allowed to rise for a couple of hours. Once risen the dough was shaped into a rectangle and given a business letter turn before going off for another rise.

I'd already decided I wouldn't use the cloche to bake the bread as another bread bible baker mentioned the loaf was large and I too wanted smaller slices so a batard loaf seemed right. 

Almost all went wrong at this point as I was following Rose's excellent video on how to shape a batard (torpedo) loaf when I realised my loaf was too long for the baking sheet. I did the thing known as "emergency squashing the ends", which you shouldn't do, but do pre measure your baking sheet.  

*note my dough was dimpled because it's a rye bread, ditto I didn't spritz with water... and I have started with squashing the ends in this photo ha ha!

Into my preheated (hot) oven, I placed my loaf on a silpat lined baking tray onto the already heated baking tray in the oven. Ice cubes were added to another tray in the bottom of the oven to create steam. 

TAAA DAAA!! Ok don't judge it's acutally a dodgy phone pic.. with a ruler next to it to show the length, this is my life I'm sending out photos of my bread to friends.

And the interior, it wouldn't be a message to my friends if I didn't include "and look at the inside!!" pic.

I am seriously happy with this texture and flavour of this bread, well seasoned it's a just eat alone bread and made wonderful sandwiches but I thought I'd show you one of the things I do with the "close to the end" bits.

I make "salad crisps" from bits of homemade bread. Slice as thinly as you can, it's ok if you get odd shaped pieces. Lay out your thin bread slicees on a lined baking tray and either brush lightly with a neutral oil (didn't want to interfere with caraway flavour) or spray with cooking oil and bake in a hot oven for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Sprinkle with sea salt is desired. Perfect to add a textural element to a salad of fresh pickled red radishes, smoked salmon, avocado and some assorted "leaves". 

Happy Baking :) 

Today has been one of the 'Rose's Bread Bible Bakers' bakes where a group of fabulous bakers get together and bake from the pages of 'The Bread Bible'.

The Bread Bibleby Rose Levy Beranbaum is available from Amazon and all discerning book stores. 

You might also be interested in a little bit of retro with Honey Joy Cupcakes

King Parrot

the king parrot

Awww, I'm loving this wild King Parrot that has taken to "visiting" the decking outside my kitchen each day... brightens the baking morning :) 

Woody's Black and White Brownies Rose's Alpha Bakers

Woody's Black and White Brownies (with a touch of green) 'The Baking Bible'

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 Stuart's video brownie review Flickr. 

Little Stuart is eight years old and has autism, each week he asks me "is it chocolate yet?" This week it is chocolate!! Woody's Black and White Brownies. 

Stuart wanted to take the brownies to school tomorrow, so the we had to veto the bourbon in the ganache topping and no nuts (nut free school).  This caused an hour or three problem as Stuart kept repeating "the recipe says bourbon" but we settled on mint largely due to Stuart loving 'Peppermint crisp' chocolate bars. :)

peppermint crisp bar a popular chocolate bar in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa... often used in desserts. 

Chocolate and butter were melted in a double boiler and scraped into the mixing bowl of the stand mixer.

Cocoa and sugar were added and mixed until incorporated.

Eggs and vanilla were beaten in, the mixture became thick and glossy.

Cream cheese was added and beaten until small bits remained and the mixture was spread evenly in the lined baking pan. I added a handful of choc chips, well just to surprise Stuart really. 

Hmm, I wondered at this stage were you supposed to be seeing the little bits of cream cheese?

Brownies were baked until the batter was set one inch from the edge.

Next was making the white chocolate custard base that would be a compontent of the white chocolate buttercream. I used small callettes so I didn't have to cut chocolate into pieces.

I had never made a custard from melted white chocolate and butter until this recipe, interesting technique. 

White chocolate and butter are melted over a double boiler.

Whisked eggs are added and cooked until slightly thickened (you have custard), it's then strained and cooled.

white chocolate custard ready to be cooled

Butter is whipped until creamy, custard gradually mixed in. Beaten to stiff peaks form and covered and popped away for a couple of hours. 

Frosting is them rebeaten briefly and vanilla added.

Time to spread frosting on cooled brownie base. 

Next up "dark chocolate ganache glaze", cream and chocolate are melted together (there is bourbon in this bit if you are using) and ganache is spread on frosting. I sprinkled the crushed peppermint crisp chocolate bars on top at this stage. 

The brownies are back to fridge now to chill at least one hour before unmoulding and slicing.

Straight from the fridge the texture is like this. The brownies are much easier to slice. Once returned to room temperature the white chocolate frosting is extremely soft and will squelch out as you bite. I'd like a firmer white layer more in line with denseness that is "a brownie". The brownie base is great, fudgy without being cloying. You can still see the little pieces of cream cheese, not sure what that is about but hey "it's good'.  

Stuart studying his brownie, he absoloutely loved them... as did his Dad.

How it works... now I've joined the fabulous existing alpha bakers, once a week I will post about what I have baked from Rose Levy Beranbaum's 'The Baking Bible'. This won't include the recipe due to copyright and publisher restrictions however, I will be posting how it went and photos of making/baking the gorgeous baked goods.

Would I bake again? All the elements yes, but not together. Great tasting brownie. Great tasting white chocolate custard frosting. Just not the two together.  

Would I change anything? Yes, I would make the brownie base alone and top with ganache. Maybe incorporate the cream cheese fully because it's not visually appealing.

The Baking Bible available from Amazon and all discerning book retailers. 

You might also be interested in chocolate twirly swirly decorations 

Tiesen Sinamon (Welsh cinnamon cake) cupcakes

Tiesen Sinamon (Welsh cinnamon cake) cupcakes

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Ahhh ha ha, I love this metal Welsh dragon my step son Daniel gave me from his recent travels to Wales. 

Wales; with a dragon on their flag, it's the birth place of my Uncle John, home of Dr. Who and according to fairy expert Janet Bord (is too such a person!!) the little folk abound in Wales.   Welsh flag

Tiesen Sinamon is traditionally a round cinnamon cake topped with raspberry or apricot jam and spread with meringue. The cake is returned to the oven to brown the meringue. Here favourite my little one bowl cake recipe is spiced with cinnamon, filled with raspberry jam and topped with fluffy meringue (7 minute type) frosting before torching.  

Tiesen Sinamon (Welsh cinnamon cake) cupcakes ... the one bowl method used here results in cake similar to the original Tiesen Sinamon texture. By all means substitute your go to buttercake cupcake recipe and add cinnamon if desired.  

Preheat oven to 180C/350F 

Line two 12 cup trays with paper liners (the small patty/fairy cake size... this a UK size, old Australia size and smaller than US cupcake)

Ingredients

125g butter (4.4oz) softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup (150g) castor sugar (superfine)

3 eggs  room temperature

1 1/2  cups (225g) self-raising flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 cup milk (60ml) room temperature

Method

In your mixer bowl with flat beater blade attached, beat butter, extract, sugar, eggs, sifted flour, cinnamon together & milk on low speed with an electric mixer until ingredients are just combined. Increase speed to medium & beat for 3 minutes until smooth and pale in colour.

Drop spoonfuls of mixture into the paper liners. Bake about 20 minutes. Allow to cool in tins for 5 minutes removing to a wire rack to cool.

Fluffy Frosting
Makes 3 cups
• 1 cup white sugar (granulated)
• 4 large egg whites

Directions
1. In the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer, combine sugar and egg whites. Place the bowl over a pot of gently simmering water, and whisk until the mixture feels warm to the touch and the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes.
2. Return the bowl to the mixer stand. With the whisk attachment, whip on high 
3. until cooled, about 8 minutes. Use immediately.

*If the weather is humid, you may need to beat the frosting for an additional minute in each step to stiffen it.

Use a good store bought raspberry jam or make your own.... Raspberry Jam recipe Traditionally raspberry jam is "loose" (wetter) than say ummm "apricot". If you prefer a firm set jam use pectin sugar as per instructions. 

To Serve

Cut a small hole in to the top of each cooled cake. Fill the cavities with about one teaspoon of raspberry jam, top with a blob of meringue frosting (use a star piping tip if you prefer a less rustic looking cupcake) torch with a kitchen blow torch.  

Happy Baking :) 

You might also be interested in Raspberry and Orange Gluten Free Friands

Stilton Baby Blue Cheesecakes Rose's Alpha Bakers

stilton baby blue cheesecakes 

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"It's feeling a lot like Christmas" ... Well that is when I usually have blue cheese, instead it's just me alone with the baby blue cheesecakes today, I've been stomped on by a flu virus for the past eight days.

Now, not that my family and friends want me to have the flu, but I kind of think a least a couple were relieved they weren't partaking in blue cheese cheesecakes taste testing this week.  Sheeeesh, more for me then... I love blue cheese, and these little cheesecakes were just what the doctor ordered ha ha.... I'm allowed a bad joke quota due to slight flu delirium!!  

stilton cheese

Savoury desserts have been a foodie trend for the last couple of years and these 'Stilton baby blue cheescakes' fit the bill perfectly, with a touch of sugar combined with the umami of stilton cheese.

Started the cheesecakes in the same way as last weeks 'Double Chocolate Oriolos' by oven toasting walnuts and then rubbing the warmed nuts in a clean tea towel to remove the skins.

Silicone cupcake pans or a metal muffin pan were suggested, but since I have a mini cheescake pan I thought I'd use that following the pan preparation method in 'The Baking Bible' for the metal cupcake pan. making parchment circles for the bottom on my pan

Seven grams of finely chopped walnuts were pressed into the base of each hole. 

Cream cheese was beaten with cornflour, sugar and pinch of salt until soft and creamy. Sour cream, stilton cheese and eggs were added before the mix was ready for baking. You do have the choice at this stage on how much stilton you add, depending on how savoury you want to go.  

15 minutes in a low oven, turn and another 15 result in super creamy (and rather rich) small baked cheesecakes. 

I topped mine with roasted walnuts, pear slice (love the green skin/ripe pear flesh of packham pears) and drizzled rosemary infused honey to keep playing with the savoury/sweet theme.  Consider plum, pear, fresh fig, rhubarb (poached or compote), red grapes, celery, walnuts or honey as toppings. 

Would I bake again?  Yes

Would I make any changes? I'd probably use a locally produced blue cheese rather than the imported Stilton but other than that no. I think just the sheer volume of toppings that compliment the stilton baby blue cheesecakes will keep this recipe "fresh" and in my repertoire. 

How it works now I've joined the fabulous existing alpha bakers, once a week I will post about what I have baked from Rose Levy Beranbaum's 'The Baking Bible'. This won't include the recipe due to copyright and publisher restrictions however, I will be posting how it went and photos of making/baking the gorgeous baked goods.

The Baking Bible

Feel like making an Albert ??

Only a Time Lord knows what season it is cupcake

'Only a Time Lord knows what season it is' Doctor Who cupcake

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You haven't even got time to put away your Christmas hat and it's time for Easter, well that's according to Australias major retailers. Hot Cross Buns and Easter Eggs have been on sale since January 5th. Easter Sunday is April 5th, Easter now runs a quarter of the year???

Waiting in the queue at the supermarket... on the right of me a clearance rack of candy canes, on the left of me freshly baked hot cross buns, not forgetting the racks of foil wrapped chocolate easter eggs and the gaudy (or romantic... but it's the supermarket queue and romance isn't in the air) Valentines day cards.  

But I did love Peter Capaldi in his first season as the Doctor in BBC's Doctor Who. So today we have a Time Lord figure. He started when I was practicing figure modelling and ended up being a center display cupcake for a Doctor Who cookie platter. 

"Practice" it's boring I know, but it's how you get better. 

I started with a print out of Peter Capaldi photos as the Doctor.

Here is an earlier model of Peter Capaldi when I was toying with the idea of full caricature. The day was warm and he was still very soft and his hair is not attached as I was checking height.  I chickened out on the over blown features and went for a partial caricature... even then he had an eye removed and replaced after it looked, umm well I think the technical term would be "squiffy":) 

You have to be fast!!! When working with fondant you have to be fast, drying time is in minutes for modelling. I used a 3 parts fondant to one part modelling chocolate to give me another 5 to 10 minutes to finish face. 

Green: the green fondant here shows you the basic "eggish" shape most heads start with. I get ready with all the other pieces, such a nose, ears, eyebrows etc. You will have a series of wedges, beans, ovals and snake shapes. Then you start putting together and sculpting your head. I apply pieces with a small damp brush then use modelling tools and fingers to shape. You can give yourself a few more minutes by keeping pieces covered in glad wrap.

If you don't use modelling chocolate mixed with fondant you might find yourself with the dreaded "elephant skin" as the fondant icing dries. 

I use Bakels white fondant almost exclusively, colour with gel paste. CMC powder was mixed in the black and red fondant to firm.  

Have fun, happy baking and do give modelling a figure a try :) 

Proving I'm a bit of a sucker for a huge topper ... make  Eric the Valentine Emu

or try a 'Love Caramel Cupcake' 

Half a Grasshopper Pie

                                               Half a Grasshopper Pie

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Grasshopper Cocktail: The drink reputedly originated at Tujague's in the French Quarter New Orleans. The cocktail contains equal amounts of creme de menthe and white creme de cacao with added cream and shaken with ice.

You start with the thought "I'm going to make Nigella Lawson's Grasshopper pie", that was until you realise you don't have and can't get some of the ingredients.... which brings us to today's recipe a "half a grasshopper pie".

I thought I did, I thought I did... have whie creme de cacao. I didn't. We don't have Bourbon biscuits here but I'm Australian so dark chocolate Tims Tams it was. 

Tim Tams: chocolate coated and chocolate cream filled biscuits (cookies) popular in Australia, use the equivalent in you country i.e. chocolate coated oreos. 

We also don't have the mini white marshmallows Nigella uses here so I thought white soft eating marshmallows will do. Three supermarkets later I cannot buy white marshmallows, I can buy fruit swirled, chocolate dipped, pink and white mixed but no "white". 

Yep, this is why I found myself separating pink from white marshmallows. I've since found out Aldi in Australia has white eating marshmallows... dang I should have asked my all knowing friend Jacinta first! 

Half a Grasshopper Pie recipe

1 loose bottomed 25x5 cm (10x2 inch) fluted tart tin

300g grams (10.5oz) of chocolate coated cream biscuits (approx one and half packs of dark chocolate Tim Tams) 

50g (1.75oz) of dark chocolate (I used Lindt 70%)

50g (1.75oz) softened butter

200g (7oz) grams soft white eating marshmallows (cut in half or quarters depending on size)

2tsp of pure vanilla extract/essence

80ml (2.7 fluid ozs) green creme de methe 

125ml (4.22 fluid ozs) milk

375ml (12.7 fluid ozs) thickened cream

few drops of green food colouring

*optional vanilla whipped cream, fresh mint and chocolate curls to serve

oiled scissor blades make short work of cutting marshmallows 

Process the chocolate biscuits (cookies) with the chocolate in a food processor until it's a rough crumb, add the butter and pulse until it just comes together. 

Base processing finished and ready to press into shell. 

Using the back of a spoon or your hands press the crumbs evenly around the base and sides of fluted tart tin. Make sure you press firmly, particularly around the edges coming up the sides. Refrigerate the base. 

Put the cut marshmallows with the milk in a small saucepan, *over low heat. Once the milk starts to foam around the edges, remove from heat and stir marshmallows to completely melt in. Pour into a heat proof bowl, stir in the creme de menthe, vanilla and green food colouring if using. Set aside to cool. 

Whisk the cream until soft peak stage (it will hold it's shape but drop gently off a spoon), add cooled marshmallow mixture. Whisk until combined but not over beaten. 

Pour mixture into chilled crust. Spread lightly to fill shell evenly, create a few swirls or smoother finish... whatever you prefer.

Refrigerate pie a minimum of four hours, use a plastic dome lid or aluminium foil to create a dome over the pie. You don't want the surface to be touched.

When ready to serve either top with crushed chocolate biscuits (cookies) or as I did with a dollop of vanilla white cream, chocolate curls and a fresh mint leaf. 

* Trouble shooting: gentle, gentle heat melting marshmallows if the mixture boils the marshmallows don't reset. 

* a delicate texture similar to a Sara Lee Bavarian dessert, this pie needs to be refrigerated... it will collapse if left in a warm place. 

Was the pie worth it? Absolutely!!  Happy Baking :) 

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