I wished for chocolate and got caramel....all is right in the world!
After my "busy" rant yesterday I decided to make some time for dessert tonight. You know when you have those days when the only thing that fixes it all is caramel. Kind of like Banoffee Pie day.
Last week was hectic. On top of National Testing I was really pushing my kids to complete their English and History assessments all in time for report card writing.
I've felt like such a nasty ball of stress the last few days. It must have shown because I had a lovely student bring me in a box of chocolates with the comment, "Dad thought you were a bit stressed yesterday so we got you these to make it better." It's amazing how much a kind gesture brings you back to earth and makes you realise it's just a bit of work in the end. When did primary school become so much about back breaking deadlines? Today I've tried to slow down and give myself and my students a bit of processing time, hopefully I can keep it up. It is hard relying on twenty-seven 10 year olds to meet my deadlines.....the education system is a funny thing isn't it.
Anyway, back to dessert. This is one that has been in the back of my mind for a while. It is a quick, easy dessert.....unless of course you have to lick every last drop of caramel out of the saucepan, then it does become rather time consuming. I took this from a Bill Granger book I purchased years ago that makes my kitchen bench look fancy.
Caramel Sauce
generously serves 2 (realistically serves 4ish)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
10grams butter
Ice cream to serve
Combine all the ingredients and bring to a gentle boil over a medium heat. Allow to cook for 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens to your liking. Stir occasionally but it will bubble a lot if you stir constantly. Remove from the heat and let the sauce cool slightly before adding to ice cream.
Showing posts with label icing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label icing. Show all posts
21.5.13
13.4.13
Mum's Icing
Icing has typically been an issue for me. I've nailed butter cream but that's about it. I have always wanted to be able to just make an icing that I can just spread onto whatever and not have to worry about it dripping or being too thick or too thin or having to add mountains of water and then mountains of icing sugar to balance it all out.
We are seeing some friends tomorrow and have been tasked with bringing along dessert. I decided I would remake my Brownies as they were previously very well received. Of course, true to form, as soon as I had to cook something for an actual occasion as opposed to simply for stuffing my own face, my brownies came out dry instead of fudgey (I attribute this to the lack of chocolate - I only had 150 grams instead of 200).
In a pit of brownie despair, my only glimmer of hope was to add some icing to the top. I very nervously came to this decision. Icing and me just don't go well together (see Disaster Bunnies). My mum was around so I very cautiously asked, "Could you please help me put icing on my dried out brownies.....since my last icing escapade didn't turn out so well."
Now, my mum hates the kitchen and we have very rarely cooked together but she very readily accepted to help me out and she showed me how to make perfect icing.
Mum's Chocolate Icing
1 cup icing mixture
3 teaspoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon butter*
splash of milk*
*can be substituted with warm water
Put the icing sugar and the cocoa into a small mixing bowl and use a wooden spoon to lightly combine. Place the butter and milk into a microwave proof dish and microwave for 20 seconds on medium heat until butter has just melted in to the milk, stir to combine.
Using a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon, gradually spoon the wet mixture into the dry. Mix well after each addition. You well end up with a thick icing that is easy enough to spread and won't drip off.
Using the milk and butter icing means that your cake will need to go into the fridge (which is why the water option is sometimes good). You can substitute cocoa powder with any other flavour icing you want. The major key thing here is gradually it is a little bit of a slow process but, seriously, this icing blew my mind. I can't thank my mum enough for teaching me something so useful.
We are seeing some friends tomorrow and have been tasked with bringing along dessert. I decided I would remake my Brownies as they were previously very well received. Of course, true to form, as soon as I had to cook something for an actual occasion as opposed to simply for stuffing my own face, my brownies came out dry instead of fudgey (I attribute this to the lack of chocolate - I only had 150 grams instead of 200).
In a pit of brownie despair, my only glimmer of hope was to add some icing to the top. I very nervously came to this decision. Icing and me just don't go well together (see Disaster Bunnies). My mum was around so I very cautiously asked, "Could you please help me put icing on my dried out brownies.....since my last icing escapade didn't turn out so well."
Now, my mum hates the kitchen and we have very rarely cooked together but she very readily accepted to help me out and she showed me how to make perfect icing.
Mum's Chocolate Icing
1 cup icing mixture
3 teaspoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon butter*
splash of milk*
*can be substituted with warm water
Put the icing sugar and the cocoa into a small mixing bowl and use a wooden spoon to lightly combine. Place the butter and milk into a microwave proof dish and microwave for 20 seconds on medium heat until butter has just melted in to the milk, stir to combine.
Using a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon, gradually spoon the wet mixture into the dry. Mix well after each addition. You well end up with a thick icing that is easy enough to spread and won't drip off.
Using the milk and butter icing means that your cake will need to go into the fridge (which is why the water option is sometimes good). You can substitute cocoa powder with any other flavour icing you want. The major key thing here is gradually it is a little bit of a slow process but, seriously, this icing blew my mind. I can't thank my mum enough for teaching me something so useful.
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