Damper-Scones

My dinner went all wrong this evening. I attempted to make Sushi....which on reflection was really dumb. The whole reason I started making Sushi at home was because my closest Sushi Train was a 700km drive. Now I have like 7 Sushi Trains in a 7 minute radius of my house....enough 7s there - they're lucky you know (also do you like my accurate use of "there" and "they're" ...we started our letter writing assessment item today).

So, my sushi rolls fell to pieces. I didn't have enough rice. I also didn't have the right type of rice. I didn't really make enough of anything. We devoured our sushi bits and pieces (and all the random bits of rice floating around the kitchen bench) and were left asking, "So....what's for mains".

Enter Damper-Scones. On the weekend we took a random scenic trip to Mount Tambourine and stuffed our faces with Belgian Hot Chocolate and Scones. Apparently I didn't get enough because ever since I have been craving bready-baked goodness. On Sunday night I kept thinking "damper and golden syrup" but was too lazy to do anything about it....except of course eat a teaspoon (or 4) or golden syrup.

The only solution to tonight's dinner calamity was to make Damper- Scones a reality. Why damper scones? Well, what's the difference really? They more or less seem to follow the same technique you just put different stuff on em.  These were super easy and we had full warm tummies and syrupy faces in less than an hour. Dinner fail = epic win.

Damper/Scones
250 grams self-rasing flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
25 grams butter
175 ml milk

Place flour and salt in a large bowl. Chop the butter into small chunks and add to the flour. Rub the butter into the flour until it all looks like fine breadcrumbs (is it just me or is this the most soothing activity ever? I could do it all day). Add the milk to the flour mixture and gently combine. Turn the dough out onto a flour surface and knead lightly (ensure it isn't too sticky - add some all purpose flour if it is). Form the dough into a large flat ball OR if you want to make scones, break it into several small soft balls. Bake at 180 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Smother in butter and golden syrup or smother in jam and cream. Also add sultanas if you are that way inclined.

Sunday Sweets: TimTam Cream Cake

I had inspiration for this cake from here. I have changed it slightly by halving most of the recipe. My husbands birthday is just around the corner so this was my "practice cake" to ensure I don't totally embarrass myself on the big day. I have wanted to make a TimTam cake for a while and saw a few different designs online but I figured, for me, this was one the most achievable...though I was super nervous about the ganache, but in this case it turned out well. 

Cake

95 grams butter

185g caster sugar

2 eggs

¾ cup self-raising flour

¼ cup plain flour

¼ cup + 2tbl spoons cocoa powder

½ teaspoon bicard soda

¼ cup milk

¼ cup water

Chocolate Ganache

200g milk chocolate

150ml thickened cream (don't use long life)

Chocolate Cream Filling

65g butter

1 ½ cup icing sugar

1 tbs milk

100g milk chocolate, melted

50 g TimTams

Preheat oven to 180°C and organise your tray….something along the lines of a shallow rectangle. If you have 2 it will save you time, however, I only had one – so I had to allow extra time to cook each half of the cake.

Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl combine the flours, cocoa powder and bicarb soda. Transfer this mixture into a sift and sift half over the wet mixture. Add the milk and gentle fold in until just combined. Sift the rest of the flour mixture in then add the water and, again, fold gently until all combined.

Spoon mixture evenly into the cake pan/s and allow to cook (20-30min). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (or if your in a hurry pop it in the fridge)

Chocolate Ganache

*the key to any good ganache is patience…I don’t have much of that when it comes to melted chocolate but it is important.

 Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to the boil over medium heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Place in fridge, stirring often, until thickened to a spreadable consistency.

Chocolate Cream


Beat the butter in a bowl until creamy. Gradually add the icing sugar and milk, in alternating batches, until smooth and combined. With the beater on low, gradually beat in the chocolate. Put the TimTams in a plastic bag and crush them into small pieces (seriously, smash them up). Tip the crumbs into the cream mixture and fold through.

Putting it together

Place the base of the cake onto baking paper. Use a spatula and a spreading knife to spread the cream over the base. Top with the remaining layer of cake. Depending on how moist your cream is you may want to put the cake in the fridge at this point to allow the cream to set slightly OR just live life on the edge and go ahead and pour and spread the ganach all over the top and sides. Then refrigerate until ready to devour.

** side note: my ganache turned out perfectly….so perfectly infact that we never even took a photo of it – blog fail. On the plus side this was the “practice cake” so there will be another one to come with a ganache photo (fingers crossed!)