White Chocolate Hazelnut Rafaello Balls

With Saint Valentine's Day on the cards, I've come to ponder, what is romance? What is romantic? So I asked my husband what he thought and we both came up with the same thing.
It doesn't have to be a trip to Paris. It doesn't have to be anything sweep-me-off-my-feet movie style.
It's the little things, the thoughtful things, surprising things that are romantic in this house. I'm sure its different for everyone, but I don't need loud or extravagant gifts from my man to feel and know that he loves me.
So are you stuck for a St. Valentine's Day gift? What is romantic to you and your better half?
To be honest I swept my brow in relief to find out my husband had the same idea of romance as me. Truth be told, most couples probably share the same ideas on love and romance, otherwise they wouldn't be together.
So when I found myself stuck for a gift for my hubby, I started trying to think outside the box, and it brought me to the chocolate box. Whats that cacophony I hear? Oh its my readers...
Not a box of chocolates!
Oh hush. This isn't your ordinary box of chocolates. Its a designer box of chocolates.
So here's the idea. Its sweet, original, unique and hand made...nothing comes from the heart more than something home and hand made! It's relatively budget friendly too, if you can curb your wild creative side enough to stick within a budget.
So here it is...I am going to make a box of assorted truffles and chocolates. Each will be named after a special occasion that my husband and I have shared together eg. First Kiss, Wedding Day, Proposal, First Date, Honeymoon, you get the picture. You could also name the chocolates after pet names, places you've been on dates, or even things that spell romance to you. Each chocolate will have a little tag attached, a little story that goes with it. A box of memory chocolates! Reliving moments of romance over a box of chocolates...sounds pretty sweet to me!
So here I am, on the hunt for great chocolate and truffle recipes. I've found a few wonderful ones, so stay tuned!
Here's one for the Rafaello Fans. Ever wondered how to make your own Rafaello chocolates? Here's how. And you'll just fall in love with the simple decadence of these beauties. Coconut, white chocolate and vanilla wafer rolled around one roasted hazelnut. Divine.

WHITE CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT RAFAELLO BALLS (translated and adapted from Din Bucataria Mea)

200ml condensed milk

3-4 tbsp. full cream milk powder

50g butter, room temperature

100g coconut flakes

50g vanilla wafer biscuits, crushed

toasted hazelnut, if desired

150g white chocolate, melted

150g coconut extra

Mix butter with condensed milk, add milk powder, coconut flakes, and crushed vanilla wafers. Mix until well combined. Roll into walnut sized balls; flatten in the palm on your hand and press a hazelnut into the centre. Re-roll so that the hazelnut is well covered and positioned in the middle of the ball. Repeat until all mixture is used.

Melt the chocolate. Put the extra coconut in a small bowl. Using a fork, dip each ball into the white chocolate and coat. Let the excess chocolate drain from the all before rolling it through the coconut, then place on a tray. Repeat until all the balls are coated and refrigerate until ready to serve.

NOTES: These delicious chocolates are just as delicious without the nut in the centre, and look marvelous boxed as a gift

HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Floating Coconut Island Macaroons

They're not your ordinary macaroons. These fluffy looking coconut "mountains" are dipped in dark chocolate, drizzled in white chocolate and hold hints of hazelnut liqueur. Lightly toasted, subtly sweet, you will feel like you're on cloud nine sinking your teeth into these.

FLOATING COCONUT ISLAND MACAROONS

7oz dessicated coconut flakes
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp. flour
small pinch salt
2 egg whites
1 1/2  tbsp. hazelnut liqueur
Dark chocolate for dipping
White chocolate for drizzling

Mix coconut, sugar, flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir in whisked egg whites and liqueur, and stir until well combined. Form 24 rough but firmly packed mounds of mixture onto greased and lined trays. Cook for 15 minutes at 180C until the edges begin to turn golden. When cooled, dip the bottoms in melted chocolate and place on baking paper until cooled. Drizzle white chocolate over the tops if desired. Store in an air tight container.

NOTES: If you prefer your macaroons to be more golden on top but the bottoms are already browned enough, a few moments under the grill will colour the tops beautifully. During baking time, you may like to remove the trays and check that the macaroons have not crumbled on them selves and pinch the tops if they have collapsed a little. Sometimes the mixture seems a little crumbly.

Hazelnut Almond Sticks

One of the wonderful memories I have of my Opa is his never ending selection of delectable biscuits. He would always bring out that fancy silver biscuit tin, remove the lid and tell us to eat as many as we wanted. They were always specialty biscuits, mainly European I imagine--lots of delicious Dutch biscuits I cant for the life of me pronounce the names of. I remember many of them where almond or hazelnut based, so when I found this recipe  i was delighted. These biscuits look a little like Bokkenpootjes (Goat's Feet) but have a different taste. I was surprised to find them reminding me more of biscotti than Bokkenpootjes, and found them hard on retrieving them from the oven. Nevertheless, after a few days of sitting in the tin, I was delighted to find them softened to perfection, and the taste had become richer and oh so nutty. The combination of the dark chocolate over this nutty finger is delicious, a match made in heaven. I'm sure my Opa would have loved these.

HAZELNUT ALMOND STICKS (Adapted from Woman's Weekly Cookbooks "The Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits" 1982)


3 egg whites
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup ground hazelnuts
1 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup plain flour
150g dark chocolate, chopped
1 tbsp. butter, melted


Beat egg whites in a medium dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating well so that the sugar dissolves between additions. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the nuts and sifted flour. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm plain tube. Pipe 8cm lengths, about 4cm apart, on lined oven trays. Bake at 160C for about 15 minutes or until dry to touch.Cool on wire racks.
Place melted chocolate and butter together in a small bowl, and stir until incorporated.. Dip the ends of the sticks in the chocolate mixture and drizzle the ends with two stripes of chocolate. Leave to dry before serving. .

NOTES: you can use 30g copha instead of butter if preferred. Also, these sticks are best eaten a few days after making, as the flavour becomes richer and the biscuits become a little softer.

Strawberries and Cream Jelly Cupcakes

Happy Australia Day one and all! Now you might predict I'd be making a typically Australian dessert or sweet on this day, but I've decided to go with a take on a take of the Australian Lamington. If you aren't familiar with the lamington, you're seriously missing out.
It's a rectangle finger of sponge cake enveloped in chocolate and sprinkled with coconut. Sometimes they're even filled with creamy goodness, and on occasion, jam. Recently I saw a spin on lamingtons in the form of jelly cakes. Jelly cakes are fantastic. They're a staple at every kid's party and a bit like a lamington, except without the chocolate. The cake is dipped in liquid jelly mix and immediately rolled in coconut.
So here's a spin on that, perfect food for a little girls (or big girl's) party. They look so quaint and pretty in all their pink glory, made deliciously moist with the addition of the jelly, and topped with a dollop of butter cream icing and a giant strawberry. They couldn't get much cuter!

STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM SWIRL JELLYCAKES

1 buttercake mix
red or pink food colouring
1 packet strawberry jelly crystals
1 cup dessicated coconut
As many strawberries as cupcakes
1 cup of cream, whipped

Make the buttercake batter as directed on the box, and divide the mixture in half. In one half add a capfull of red or pink food colouring and mix well until incorporated.
Alternately spoon the two colours of batter into cupcake tray holes, layering the two colours to achieve a two tone cupcake. Use all the mixture in this manner and bake as directed on the box.
When the cupcakes are cooked and cooled, cut out the centre of each to form a well. Do not cut to the bottom of the cupcakes. Aim for a 20c piece size as a top view, big enough to sit the bottom of a strawberry in.
Discard the cake removed. 
Make the jelly as directed on the box. While still warm, dip the top of each cupcake briefly in the unset jelly mixture and then in coconut.
Fill the wells with a dollop of  whipped cream. Cut the leaves off the strawberries. Position one strawberry ontop of each dollop. Serve.

How to Make Basic Rolled Fondant or Gumpaste Roses

My sister-in-law is expecting her first baby in a few months, and the occasion called for a baby shower and I put my hand up with glee. I've got a newborn myself and found that I left everything to the last moment in my disorganization. Running out of time, I set about designing a cake and found that I lacked some of the instruments necessary to go through with the project.
Not knowing the sex of the baby, I decided to go with a Sweetpea Baby Theme with a rolled fondant garden of roses, beans and peas and some other foliage with a wee baby among it all. I had no idea how I was going to make leaves and roses without any tools used to create those perfect petals and serrated edges. So I started researching and found a great tutorial on youtube. It's a very simple process anyone can use, even for those not so artistic and it doesn't require any cutting tools for your fondant. They are basic fondant roses and can be added to if you have the time and patience.
Enjoy the tutorial!

HOW TO MAKE BASIC ROLLED FONDANT OR GUMPASTE  ROSES

To make your own fondant at home, here is a cheaper and more fun alternative to store bought rolled fondant.You can also use gumpaste.

You will need:
Any amount of rolled fondant or gumpaste
A clear, plastic folder pocket

1. Take the plastic pocket and cut off the bottom and the side that usually clips into your folder. You now have a plastic sheet that can open and close as a book would.

2. Take a portion of fondant and roll it into a smooth sausage. Cut four equal portions from the sausage. You want them to be approximately marble sized when rolled into a ball.

3.Roll three of these portions into smooth balls, and the forth into an elongated ball, a bit more oval than the others.

4. Place each of the portions along side each other inside the plastic sheet. Gently smooth each ball with your pointer so that it flattens. Smooth down one side of the ball so that it is thinner than the other side. The end closest to you should be thick, sloping down gradually to be thinner. Ensure the balls are all even in size and thickness, and that the balls keep their aerial view shape.

 5. Gently remove the oblong "ball" from the plastic. Roll the thin end of it first, between your fingers, rolling towards the thick end so that it forms a spiral. This is the centre of the rose.

6. Remove the first ball from the plastic and position it flush against the centre bud, thin side up. Place it so that only the centre of the petal is stuck to the  bud, the sides free. The top of the petal should be at the same height as the bud.

7. Take the second petal and slip it in besides the first, so that the first petal overlaps it by half.  Take the third petal and slip it in half way under the second petal. Gently fold the end of the last petal around to meet the first.

 8. You now have your basic rose. Cut the bottom half off with a knife, as this is quite bulky.
You may also like to shape the petals a little with your fingers before setting is aside to dry.

The baby drying. I use an empty chocolate tray to dry the roses in. They dried in 2 days, but this depends upon the weather.

Baby's Sweetpea Cake

Curry Veggie Burgers

Are you vegetarian or carnivore? When I was a kid I was neither, I simply hated eating anything. Spinach was hidden on a little ledge under the dinner table, as were peas and the likes. Crackers were the only thing to be desired.Hence a skinny little runt I was. Determined not to let my own children get away with the same sneaky tricks I did, my husband and I selected a large wooden meal table without any secret ledges underneath. Ever since, I have been fossicking around for ways to incorporate good greens and beans in foods the kids will eat without fuss.
Hello delicious veggie burger!
Are you over fish and chips on Fridays as much as we are? Then mix it up a bit with these super healthy, delicious, goodness filled veggie burgers, adapted from taste.com.

CURRY VEGGIE BURGERS

1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. crushed garlic
1 zucchini, grated
1 small carrot, grated
3 stalks silver-beet, white removed, leaves chopped finely
3 slices wholemeal bread, crusts removed, shredded
200g canned chickpeas, drained
1 heaped tbsp mild curry paste (we used Tikka Masala paste)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. coriander
1 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs
oil for frying

Fry the onion for five minutes on a low heat until softened. Add the garlic, silverbeet zucchini and carrot and cook for 3 minutes until wilted and softened. Drain off any liquid that is left in the pan.
Place chickpeas and shredded bread in a food processor and pulse to combine and break down the contents. Add the vegetables and curry paste, egg yolk and coriander. Process until well combined.
Form the mixture into rough patties, coating each side in breadcrumbs. Lay on a tray and refrigerate for 10 minutes before frying until golden brown.

Bounty Balls

I was feeling a bit overwhelmed the other day...two crying babies who had trouble sleeping and toys thrown all over the house, no dinner made and husband back from work any second. It was a teary moment. I started to wonder, was this what they called the baby blues? And then I realised how long it had been since I went into that kitchen and made something I didnt have to make...just make something for the sole pleasure of it.
Being in the kitchen is therapeutic to me, its my time out, where I can create and enjoy a little time by myself, and recharge the old batteries. I'm not talking that time where you have to whip up the dinner with a hungry baby crying in your ear. I'm talking the babies-in-bed-silence, glass of vino in hand and the-world-is-your-oyster type of kitchen time.
I knew that was what I needed to cheer myself up, and when my darling hubby came home I got just that. What was something totally superfluous that I could make? Then I remembered how everyone had enjoyed the homemade bounty bars I had recently made and set about making just that...but in balls, covered in dark chocolate. Talk about a cure for the "baby blues"!
I am pleased to say that there are no blues anymore, it seemed to be the perfect cure. And...my babies are sleeping much better (bye-bye insomniacs) and that my dear, is why I am able to blog a little! Ah the simple things in life. The greatest pleasures. (They're gluten free sweets, too!)

HOMEMADE BOUNTY BALLS

3 cups dessicated coconut
200g sweetened condensed milk
1/2-3/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp. vanilla essence
350g dark chocolate, melted

Combine the coconut and condensed milk in a large bowl. Add enough icing sugar to make a stiff mixture.Add the vanilla and stir until well combined. Roll into walnut sized balls and refrigerate overnight until hardened.Coat in melted chocolate and serve when set.

Tropical Trifle

Two days before Christmas I was wondering if I was being punished for feeling such a wicked glee at the thought of the upcoming festive food gorging. Two wisdom teeth decided to make their painful way into the world on either side of my mouth and I found it incredibly hard to chew anything. I envisioned the roast meats being neglected, the chocolates sitting alone, unable to be devoured, and all the lovely festive foods going off before I could bare to have them in my mouth. Or the alternative--pureed honey glazed ham being sucked through a straw on my favourite feast day of the year, 60 years premature.
So would I be surviving the 12 days of Christmas off jelly and soup blends concocted of all the deliciousness that had been prepared for Christmas?
Determined not to miss out, I found this wonderful recipe for Tropical Trifle in a Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. I don't usually find much joy in soggy cake and cream, but this trifle was different, it was the most amazing one I have ever tasted by far.
Imagine the taste of mango combined with the zest of lemon, the smoothness of mascapone, the freshness of mint, rolls of jam sponge laced with coconut liqueur and pineapple juice atop mango jelly and passion fruit. It was simply divine.

TROPICAL TRIFLE (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine Jan 2012)

2X 85g packets mango jelly crystals
400ml boiling water
400ml chilled water
1 mango, cheeks removed, flesh sliced thinly
250g mascapone
300ml thickened cream
1/4 caster sugar
finely grated zest of one lemon
300g jam rolettes
1/4 pineapple juice
1/3 cup coconut flavoured white rum
pulp of 6 passionfruits
extra mango thinly sliced
mint leaves to decorate

Put jelly crystals and boiling water in a bowl and stir to dissolve. Add the chilled water and set aside to cool.
Arrange the sliced mango in the bottom of a 21 x 10.5cm glass serving bowl. Pour jelly over the top and refrigerate until the jelly has set.
Whisk the mascapone, cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Fold in the lemon zest and set aside.
Combine the rum and pineapple juice in a shallow bowl.
Slice the rolettes and dip them one by one quickly into the rum mixture, then arrange on top of the jelly.Spoon over half the mascapone mixture on top of the rolettes. Drizzle half the passion fruit pulp over the top and swirl slightly. Cover with the rest of the mascapone mixture, and decorate the top of the trifle with the extra mango, mint leaves and remaining pulp.