Hot Cross Buns - in pictures

find the recipe (or look it up on the family blog)

proving the yeast (with measured water and brown sugar)

rub butter into sifted dry ingredients, measure out the fruit, add remaining sugar to remaining water with the salt


add the liquid and kneed (till outer surface shiny, not sticky), kneed in fruit and leave to double in size in a warm place (covering with a teatowel or napkin keeps it cosy)

cut into 16-18 pieces, form into buns, leave to rise and double in size

dribble or pipe the crosses with the paste

when cooked, brush with the glaze and eat warm with butter

an Orange Jelly Surprise

Ok, I admit STOLE this idea off someone, but wanted somewhere to write this down so I remember it next time I go to a kids party... Perhaps my first neice will like this when she gets a bit older...

• scoop the orange out (orange was cut in half I presume?)
• make up the jelly & when it has cooled down pour it into the orange skin.
• Put in fridge, when set cut into segments

Lemon Ripple Cheesecake Bars

Candy kindly sent me this stupendous cheesecake recipe which has become an instant family favourite. (And no crumbly biscuit base - yay!) I will try to get a photo next time.

CRUST

• 1 Cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ CUP sugar
• 1 t finely grated lemon zest
• pinch salt
• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed & chilled

FILLING

• 2 T cornstarch
• ½ cup cold water
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 ¾ cups sugar
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 t finely grated lemon zest
• 1¼ pounds cream cheese, softened [I only used 500gm - ie two packs)
  
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

MAKE THE CRUST:
Preheat the oven to 325 F and position a rack in the center. Butter a 9-inch-square baking pan. In a food processor, pulse the flour with the sugar, lemon zest and salt. Add the butter and pulse until a soft, crumbly dough forms. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and a scant ½ inch up the side of the pan. Bake the crust for 20 minutes, or until golden and firm.

MEANWHILE, MAKE THE FILLING:
In a small bowl, dissolve the corn starch in the water. In a medium sauce pan, whisk the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of the sugar and the lemon juice. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and cook over moderate heat, whisking gently, until the sugar is dissolved and the lemon mixture is hot, about 4 minutes. Boil over moderately high heat for 1 minute, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thick and glossy. Strain the lemon mixture into a heatproof bowl. Stir in the
lemon zest and let cool.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1 cup of sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour until blended. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well between additions. Add the sour cream and the vanilla and beat until the batter is smooth. Pour the cream cheese batter over the crust and smooth the surface with a spatula. Dollop the lemon mixture on the cheesecake batter and care fully swirl it into the batter; take care not to cut into the crust.

Bake the cheesecake for about 40 minutes, or until golden around the edge and just set. Run the tip of a knife around the edge to loosen the cheese cake from the side of the pan. Let cool on a wire rack for 1 hour, then refrigerate the cheesecake until thoroughly chilled. Cut into 16 bars and serve.

The cheesecake bars can be refrigerated in the pan for up to 3 days. For the best results, slice the cheese cake bars with a warm knife, wiping off the blade between cuts.

Holiday Ambrosia

When I was an exchange student in America, every potluck function I went to served "ambrosia". It's a little sweet but here's my holiday version that goes well with turkey.

1 packet Port or Blackberry jelly[jello]
1 C boiling water

250gm cream cheese
2 T mayonnaise
3/4 C whole cranberry sauce
1 can crushed pineapple (drained)
1/2C chopped pecans
1 C tiny marshmallows
300 ml cream (whipped)

Pour boiling water over jelly crystals. Whisk to dissolve. Put in fridge to cool but NOT set.

Cream the mayonnaise and cream cheese. Add cranberries, pineapple, pecans and marshmallows and gently mix in cooled jelly mix. Fold in whipped cream and pour into serving dish. Decorate top with marshmallow and pecans. Chill.

Pissaladiere

Apparently this is a Nicoise classic. I'll let you know after we visit the south of France in September. In any event, it's rather tasty (provided you like anchovies).

• 3-4 onions thickly sliced
• 1 sheet puff pastry or David's pizza dough
• 16 anchovies halved lengthwise
• 12 black olives, stoned
  

1. Slowly cook ontion in 2 tablespoons olive oil until very soft.
2. Preheat oven to 220 C,
3. Roll pastry (or pizza dough) out to make a 30cm x 20cm rectangle and transfer to baking tray.
4. Leaving a 1 cm rim, pricky pastry all over with a fork and add a thick layer of onion.
5. Arrange anchovy strips in rows toform large diamonds. Put an olive in the centre of each diamond and drizzle over a little oil. Bake for 20 minutes until pastry/pizza crust is brown and crisp.
6. Serve warm
   

David's Pizza Dough

Here is the basic recipe for David's special Friday night pizza dough:

• 300g bakers flour
• 100g fine semolina
• 1 packet rapid rise dry yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup warm water
  

1. Measure out flour and semolina in mixing bowl atop scale.
2. Remove bowl from scale and add yeast and salt; mix well.
3. Pour olive oil in measuring cup and fill with warm water. Add to dry ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon.
4. Once roughly combined empty dough onto bench and kneed for about 5 minutes or until surface is smooth and not sticky. Form into ball.
5. Coat large bowl with olive oil, add dough, cover with Glad wrap and place bowl on top of water heater to rise.
6. About 2 hours from when the pizza is to go into the oven remove dough from bowl, spread out over pizza tin, cover with tea towel and return to water heater for 2nd rise.

Quince Paste

Autumn/Easter means quince are around. This recipe is a bit of a chore but it's worth it. Quince paste is great for a cheese platter or an accompaniment for lamb.

8 quinces washed
1 cup water
juice of one lemon
sugar

Cut quinces into chunks and place into a large saucepan with a tight fitting id with water and lemon juice. Cook over a moderate heat for approximate half an hour or until quite tender.

Puree the pulp (I use my hand sieve but you could use a food processor) and weigh puree. Mix puree with three-quarters of its weight of sugar.

Return to wide-based, heavy saucepan and cook over a moderate heat, STIRRING PRETTY MUCH CONSTANTLY!, until the paste leaves the sides of the pan and the colour is a deep red. This takes two hours or more. The mixture gets really thick and becomes hard to push the spoon through.

Cool mixture slightly and pour into and oiled tray lined with greaseproof paper or plastic containers. Dry mixture in a warm place for several days (not that I notice much of a difference). When dry, wrap paste well in greaseproof paper and then in foil. It stores indefinitely in an airtight container.

Cut into slices (or use a biscuit cutter to make a shape) for serving.

Christmas Food....

I haven't had any Christmas cake yet this year and haven't sampled Stollen or any other Christmas food... We don't have a pine tree in our house (cos my flatmate is allergic to the pollen)... really the only thing the FEELS like Christmas is the muggy weather and the pohutukawa in bloom.

So - I felt like Mum last night, up till after midnight baking Christmas treats for a dinner tonight. Thanks to the nifty labelling option on this blog, I was able to go straight to the Christmassy food we posted this time last year, and I made the panforte from the "food with attitude" book.

The panforte tastes really good raw and even better sampled for breakfast!

Merry Christmas to my family travelling and living around the world at this time.