Brandy Snaps and Cream Horns

Okay, so maybe I wasn't talking to a black hole as much as I thought I was. The silence on here is so deafening, I thought it was high time I cooee'd and tried listening for a reply. The news of me having "one in the oven" flew around surprisingly fast, so I am guessing I have an audience. Hello readers! I feel better now.
So just continuing on from the brandy snap basket blog, I wanted to share some findings, and tell everyone how easy it is to make those delicious brandy snap cream horns you only dream of being able to create. They're super easy, all you need is this blog, the ingredients and a cone shaped glass..and a little self control. Finding number one: Brandy snaps are irresistible when just out of the oven...chewy, gooey and seductive in their toffee-ish goodness! Back to what you need. If you don't have a cone shaped anything, the end of a wooden spoon will do the trick, or a cylindrical handle of any other utensil  (preferably wooden or plastic.) I found I didn't have enough cone shaped glasses on hand and used one of my son's mini toy witches hats (yes, a replica of the cones they use on the roads...washed, of course) and it worked a treat.
So what I learned by trial and error may save you some time, ingredients and disappointment. Don't you love it when someone makes the mistakes for you?

Brandy Snap Cream Horns:

60g Butter
1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/3 cup golden syrup
1/2 cup plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp. ground ginger
A few drops vanilla essence
12 Strawberries
Vanilla sugar to dust

Preheat oven to 160 C.
Place butter, sugar and syrup in a small saucepan and stir over a moderate heat until butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool for a minute.
Sift in flour, salt and ginger, stirring to combine. Add vanilla and incorporate.
Drop 10-12 teaspoons of batter onto a ready greased tray, leaving a few inches between each for them to spread. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.

Apologies for the awful picture, but your brandy snaps should look like this before removal from the tray

Remove and cool for five or more minutes. The longer you leave them on the tray, the harder they will be. This makes them easy to remove, unless you have left them too long. You will know they are ready to remove when you can peel them up with your fingers and they do not tear.The edges will harden first. Working quickly, gently lift each gently form each into cones or cylinder shapes, rolling around the end of a spoon or shaping by placing inside a cone shape glass.

These shapes should harden within minutes. If they remain pliable and refuse to harden, return to oven on the tray for a few more minutes, and repeat. If they are too hard to remove from the tray, return briefly to the oven, as this softens them again.
Remove from your molds when hard, and store in an airtight container in a dry place until ready to fill with custard or whipped cream. Fill just before serving as the Snaps may very well lose their "snap" after an hour or so due to the moistness of the filling. Sprinkle with vanilla sugar before serving.

Makes 10-12

NOTES: Usually honey acts as a good substitute for golden syrup. I tried this and the snaps actually turned out more like flat biscuits. Doubling the recipe also poses some complications. As they cannot all be in the oven at once, mixture may thicken to the wrong consistency while you wait to remove the trays with the ready brandy snaps. Its best to do them in lots of 10-12.

Brandy Snap Baskets with Custard and Berries

I am now under the impression that one should never smirk proudly about anything. God obviously read my last blog where I proudly mentioned my goodies have no affect whatsoever on my weight and He probably had a chuckle. I am soon to be a HUGE, gelatinous mass, without even indulging--I am pregnant!
So goodbye skinny cook, goodbye lots of gooey goodies, and goodbye cooking with wine! Serves me right for rubbing my fat immunity in everyone's faces.
As dismayed as I am to be growing massive, my husband and I are thrilled out of our minds to be having a new addition to our family! Prepare yourselves for some healthier recipes though. (not yet, as I have many recipes I have made and not put up yet, so the sweets will go one for quite a while)
Anyway, being fat may make more people take me an my blog seriously...I mean, no one really ever does trust a skinny cook, do they?
Here's a recipe for Brandy Snap Baskets with Custard and Strawberries I recently made as my mother in law's birthday dessert. They are surprisingly super easy to make and look adorable. You could fill them with any filling and fruit, but this was a delicious option and not too heavy on the stomach. (I cannot stop eating this vanilla custard by the spoonful, be sure to make extra!)

Brandy Snap Baskets with Vanilla Custard and Strawberries

World's Best Vanilla Custard:

2 cups milk
4 large egg yolks
6 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. cornflour
40g butter, at room temperature

Place milk in a small saucepan and bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, combine yolks, sugar and cornflour and whisk over a low heat. When the milk has boiled, add a few tablespoons into the yolk mixture and whisk. Gradually add the remaining milk and whisk vigorously on a medium heat. Custard will thicken. Continue to whisk until boils, and remove from heat. Scrape into a small bowl and sit in a tray of ice, to cease the cooking process. When cooler, add the butter in 3-4 installments, stirring until combined. Add essence, mix and refrigerate. Stores for 2-3 days.

The Brandy Snap Baskets:

60g Butter
1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/3 cup golden syrup
1/2 cup plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp. ground ginger
A few drops vanilla essence
12 Strawberries
Vanilla sugar to dust

Preheat oven to 160 C.
Place butter, sugar and syrup in a small saucepan and stir over a moderate heat until butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool for a minute.
Sift in flour, salt and ginger, stirring to combine. Add vanilla and incorporate.
Drop 10-12 teaspoons of batter onto a ready greased tray, leaving a few inches between each for them to spread. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes.

Apologies for the awful picture, but your brandy snaps should look like this before removal from the tray

Remove and cool for five minutes. Working quickly, gently lift each with an egg flip and gently lay inside the cups of a muffin tray, and push to the base, creating a cup shape. These should harden within minutes. If they remain pliable, return to oven in the muffin tray for a few more minutes. If they are too hard to push to the base to form into cups, return briefly to the oven, as this softens them again.
Remove from muffin tin when hard, and store in an airtight container in a dry place until ready to fill with custard and berries. Sprinkle with vanilla sugar before serving.

Makes 10-12

coming soon...how to get the brandy snap cream horns perfect!