Peanut Butter Cup Bars

 They're a little bit of smooth and creamy with a little bit of crunch. The delightful flavours of the chocolate top layer combine in complete harmony with the fudgy peanut butter and make it oh so rich and irresistible.
Peanut Butter Bars. I knew when I came across Christine's blog Kitchen Chronicles that she would be the culprit of a weekend's indulgence and possible weight gain. (Don't worry Christine, I already can't see my toes anyway. My hubby had to do a few more kilometers at the gym though, he doesn't have pregnancy as an excuse!)
I loved everything about this slice, not only the flavour and appearance, but that because of the divine richness, it forced portion control. It's also a really easy recipe to make, and requires no use of the oven, just a little bit of the stove or microwave, which makes it great for summer. The only problem I had was a wee one--the peanut butter layer tended to come away with the knife when I cut through the bar. It was probably an error in my butter calculations that made it so. I heated the knife to make it easier to cut the chocolate layer, so maybe that had something to do with it as well.
Well, I'm off for a while from the Secret Recipe Club to have my bub! Wish me luck!

PEANUT BUTTER CUP BARS (Adapted from Kitchen Chronicles)

Peanut Butter Layer:

3/4 cup butter
1 3/4 cups icing sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup biscuit crumbs (I used crushed Scotch Fingers but biscuits such as Graham Crackers do the trick well also)

Chocolate Layer:

1/3 cup butter
1 cup dark chocolate buttons

Garnish:

1 tbsp smooth peanut butter

Grease a 9x9 inch tray and line with baking paper.
To make the peanut butter layer, place the butter in a medium saucepan and melt over a low heat. Add the icing sugar, peanut butter and biscuit crumbs and stir until well combined.
Pour this mixture into the prepared tray and smooth with a spatula. Set aside.
For the chocolate layer, place the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over a low heat. Stirring continuously, allow the chocolate and butter to melt and incorporate. Remove from heat. Gently pour this mixture over the peanut butter layer and smooth with a spatula.
In a zip lock bag, place the remaining peanut butter for the garnish. Microwave gently for 15-30 seconds until the peanut butter is runny, then decorate the top of the chocolate layer as desired. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before cutting with a hot knife.

Raspberry Lemonade Slice

I knew that this May was all panning out too well not to come with some sort of price. Everything was in my favour until the last day, when I found out that I had some sort of malware warning coming up when anyone tried to visit the page though the internet browser Chrome. I had no idea what malware even was, how it got there and what on earth I was going to do about it. It was deterring visitors and scaring the heck out of me since reading a post earlier that day about blog hijacking. It will never happen to me, I thought. Anyway, it didn't get that serious that I lost control of my page or anything, but there was apparently some evil content on my page coming through the site that hosted the picture for my blog background, Shabby Blogs. So after lots of panicking and hasty researching, I came up with a solution. Delete everything connected to that wormy site! Htmls, everything had to go. Now the problem seems to have disappeared, sadly with the pretty little blog design that was the skin of Lick The Spoon. So that's the explanation for the little facelift that the blog has undergone in the last few days.
 But the recipes keep on churning out! If you've been following for a while, you'll be seeing a bit of a theme going on here. I get quite thrilled by colour when it comes to food, and like a bull, excited by red. Actually I recently heard that bulls can only see blue and yellow, and that movement is what excites them...but...you get my point. If you've been in my kitchen you will see splashes of red appearing too. There's just something about that colour.
So when I decided to buy some frozen raspberries, that made me go on a mad raspberry recipe hunt, and my eyes were instantly drawn to this vivid raspberry lemon slice.
My hubby doesn't like berries like I do, and I think it's mainly to do with the seeds that tend to sneakily linger in your teeth after devouring them. Especially raspberry seeds. Those little demons can hang around for a while and make you look pretty demented as you try to remove them. Well have no fear, all the seeds are removed from this delicious slice. I call it a slice, but as soon as I cut into it, a million ideas were pulsating through my brain.  To me this is a wonderfully versatile recipe as far as sweets go, just depending on how you cut it and decorate it. You can cut it  into a slice or squares for a casual affair, or make them fancy petits fours simply by cutting them into 2x2 inch squares, and topping them with a raspberry. If you cut them into long rectangles you could serve it as an elegant dessert, with a pretty garnish of mint, raspberry and a drizzling of cream. This slice freezes well too, so it is a perfect make ahead dessert for your up and coming dinner party menu. A no stress yet impressive dessert sounds pretty good to me. And it's practically guilt free too!
The filling has a similar texture to lemon curd that has set (as you often find in lemon meringue pies once cooked) and has that same delightful tartness, combined with the subtle raspberry flavouring and a lovely simple buttery base. It reminds me somewhat of Starburst lollies. Fruity and tangy! I think I will try this filling inside a meringue pie. How does Raspberry Lemon Meringue Pie sound to you? Makes me start craving. Keep your eyes open for the recipe!

Cut into petit fours as a lovely dessert at a cocktail party

Fancy it up with a garnish

Dessert style

A winning combination..

RASPBERRY LEMONADE SLICE (Adapted from The Improv Kitchen)


Crust:

9 tbsp butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
pinch of salt

Filling:

2 1/2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup lemon juice (about 3-4 medium lemons)
zest of 3 lemons
3 egg whites
1 egg
2/3 cup flour
pinch of salt, extra

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line and grease a 8x8 inch square baking dish.
To make the crust, cream together butter and sugar until light. Add the flour, vanilla and salt and mix until combined well. Do not over mix as this can make the base tough. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until just golden brown. Remove from oven and cool.

To make the filling, place all thawed raspberries in a fine sieve and press them into a large bowl with the back of a spoon. Discard the caught seeds and skin. Add the sugar, juice, zest, whites, egg, flour and salt and combine, until well incorporated.
Pour the raspberry mixture onto the base and place in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool on the bench before placing in the refrigerator to set completely (about 3-4 hours) Cut and decorate as desired.

NOTES: This slice freezes well and makes a great dessert or afternoon tea to have handy for unexpected guests or dinner parties.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Red velvet cake has often piqued my curiosity. What could it possibly taste like? There's never enough cocoa powder in the recipe to make it taste like chocolate, and never enough vanilla to make it taste like vanilla...so does it taste like vanilla and a little milk chocolate?
You have to personally experience it to really know. Unlike the intense colour, the flavour is delicate and is only enhanced by the texture and by what accompanies it, and that brings on a real deep sigh of satisfaction. Cream cheese does it for me. The combination is a match made in heaven, and could send you to hell (for gluttony). You often see these two teamed up as cake and cream cheese icing. How about a slab of red velvet cheesecake brownie?
Personally the whole red velvet flavour on its lonesome doesn't faze me, but I appreciate it for its visual beauty and wow-factor. I'd prefer it to taste a little more chocolatey. So if your tastes match mine, you can always add more cocoa powder than stated in the recipe, and a little less flour to balance the addition.

RED VELVET CHEESECAKE BROWNIES (Lightly adapted from Freutcake)

1/2 cup butter, melted (roughly 8 tbsp)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup cocoa powder
pinch salt
1 tbsp red food colouring (I used Queen brand in Pillar Box Red)
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 eggs
3/4 cup plain flour

For the cheesecake topping:
125g cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

 Preheat the oven at 180C. Grease and line a 20x20cm dish.
To make the brownie layer, place melted butter in a bowl with sugar, vanilla essence and cocoa powder and salt. Stir thoroughly to combine; add the food colouring and vinegar and stir again to incorporate. Whisk in the eggs. Gently fold in the flour.
Pour the mixture into the prepared dish, reserving 1/4 of a cup of this batter for the swirling effect.
In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla to make the topping. Smooth this cream cheese mixture over the top of the brownie batter. Randomly drop teaspoons of the reserved brownie batter on top of the cream cheese layer. Using the end of a knife, or a skewer, pull the red through the white layer to create a swirl effect. Place in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. Let the cooked brownie cool in the pan before removing to complete the cooling process on a rack before cutting into squares.

Homemade Bounty Bars

This is by far one of the simplest, most delicious recipes I have come across in my lifetime.
Not only is it simple and scrumptious, its very close to the real thing--yes, I'm talking Bounty Bars. I've had near-death experience with my love for coconut over the years, but Bounty bars and I--our affair has never been on the rocks. There's just something so undeniably delicious about that moist coconut centre and the outer chocolate layer, and the attraction gets even stronger with the use of dark chocolate over milk..And here's another thing. It's quite delicious before the chocolate dipping process, so if you have the self control I can't muster, you could always leave the chocolate off (if you're weight conscious but still want to have a treat).

HOMEMADE BOUNTY BARS

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.
Press with a fork into a greased and lined 20x20cm tin and refrigerate overnight until hardened.Cut into 24 bars, coat in melted chocolate and serve when set.