Glazed Raspberry Swirl Scrolls

Oh dear...there is no turning back now.  For one, you've stumbled across this page. For another, if you're anything like me, this is enough to make you baking crazy. I can't stop making bread!
This is a really fun recipe and a total crowd pleaser. Well, I would have been a bit happier if I had taken these easy raspberry scrolls from the oven a little earlier, they would have been less dry, but that was my fault and not the recipe. My house smelled like a bakery and I swooned around in it for several hours and wished it to always smell that good. Where was my husband to see these new found baking skills and smell his house when he should have? At work. And that's where these beauties got shipped off in the morning, after a wee taste test. Okay, I stashed a few away in the freezer, because this recipe's great like that. Got to love things that freeze well! But of course there's nothing quite like a fresh raspberry swirl roll, warm from the oven, drizzled in a little bit of delicious glaze...

GLAZED RASPBERRY SWIRL SCROLLS (Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction)

Dough:
1 cup milk
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup butter, room tempeature
2 large eggs
pinch salt
4 1/2 cups plain flour, plus extra for dusting

Filling:
2 cups frozen raspberries (not thawed)
1/4 cup heaped granulated sugar
1 tsp corn flour

Glaze:
1 cup icing sugar
3 tbsp cream

To make the dough, warm the milk in a bowl in the microwave until lukewarm (about 35C to be precise).
Add the sugar and the yeast and stir to combine. Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside for 5-10 minutes or until the mixture has become puffy or foamy.
When the yeast mixture reaches foaminess, add the softened butter, eggs and salt to this mixture. Using a flat bladed knife gradually stir the flour into this mixture until well combined, and it forms a soft dough. Use your hands to combined the dough more thoroughly until it forms a ball.
Turn onto a well floured surface and knead for 10-12 minutes. Lightly grease a glass bowl, and place the dough in a ball shape inside. Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.

With baking paper, line a 9x13 inch baking tray, with longer edges on the sides.
With a measuring tape, mark out a 10x 24 inch rectangle on the work bench, and cover this area in flour.
Turn the risen dough onto the floured surface. Evenly roll the dough in this area until it fills the floured space. Trim any uneven edges, so you have straight, even rectangular rolled dough.

In a medium bowl, combine frozen raspberries, sugar and corn flour.
Evenly sprinkle this mixture over the entire surface of the dough until covered. Take the long side of the dough and tightly roll the dough to form a 24 inch log. Cut this log into 16 even portions, about 1.5 inches wide each. Neatly arrange these rolls in the prepared tray, cut side up. Cover the tray with a clean tea towel and place in a warm area for 2 hours until puffy and well risen. (You can also cover the scrolls at this stage and leave them at room temperature overnight, and bake in the morning.)

Half an hour before the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 200C.
When the two hours has passed since covering the cut rolls, bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the berries are bubbling and the dough begins to turn golden.
Remove from the heat and cool for 15 minutes before serving with a drizzling of glaze.

To make the glaze, combine the icing sugar and cream in a small bowl and combine thoroughly, until it forms a smooth paste. You can add more icing sugar to thicken it, or more cream to thin it, depending upon your preferences. Drizzle over your cooked scrolls, and enjoy!

NOTES: Baked and unglazed rolls can be frozen for up to 1 month, and warmed to enjoy later stage.
Makes 16

Foamy Yeast, Mixing dough with knife, and kneaded dough in oiled bowl

Dough risen after two hours and placed on floured surface. Dough being rolled flat. Raspberry mixture being made and spread evenly over dough surface. Dough being rolled with filling inside.

Rolled and filled dough being cut. Portions being arranged on tray. Scrolls during rising, and then when risen enough. Scrolls just out of oven.

Refreshing Chilled Berry Water

What could be more refreshing and thirst quenching than water? I have a feeling that lemonade somehow tops water for me--I mean that home made, chilled and super summery liquid gold that goes down so easily on hot summer days, and not the fizzy stuff (ugh!).
But the other day I discovered something perhaps equally as satisfying with no added sugar and prettied up with natural colours and flavours.
It's an elegant option for afternoon teas with the girls out on the deck or for summer dinner parties where water is in hot demand. I'm always on the look out for a fancy non-alcoholic drink to serve to my guests, and this really brought wows to the table when I served it.
Over time, the fruit encrusted ice blocks melted and issued the most beautiful pink colour through the lightly-berry flavoured water, and looked ever so pretty, and the wows started up again.
I served this lemon infused, chilled still raspberry water at a brunch we held for a friend of mine, along with bacon and egg quiches, croissants, blueberry and apple danishes and plenty of tea. You can add any type of fruit you like to the ice tray, and even garnish the jug with slices of lemon or lime to add some contrasting colour and that really fresh zing.

REFRESHING CHILLED BERRY WATER

1 large ice tray (we used a tray with half sphere shaped holes)
1/3 cup frozen or fresh berries of your choice (we used raspberries)
1 lemon, juiced
Water to fill the ice tray
Water to fill the jug (preferably chilled)

Place the berries at the bottom of each of the ice tray hollows. Squirt a little lemon juice into each. Top up the tray with water until the hollows are almost full. (The berries will float) Transfer to the freezer and freeze for at least 2 hours. When solid, press from the ice tray into a jug of ice cold water. Garnish with lime, lemon or mint if desired. Serve as is, or sit the full jug for 10-15 minutes for the colour from the berries and the berry flavour and refreshing lemon juice to issue through the water. Serve.

Strawberry Cream Tart

You know when you make the same thing so many times that the recipe gradually and unconsciously changes over time? I once discovered a great custard recipe and have been making it ever since. I made it so many times that I knew the recipe off the top of my head and discarded the hard copy. Eventually the custard turned out slightly odd, with a real corn flour taste and still not quite as thick as I swear it used to be. Time to go back and find the recipe, or time to try something new? When I saw this strawberry cream tart recipe from Cathy's blog Wives With Knives, I thought "try something new", just to shake things up in my world of custard. Custard has long been a favourite of mine. Occasionally I'll be seen buying a litre of it just to have on it's own. I preferred home made custard of course, until my cornflour dilemma.
And strawberries, please don't get me started! They're my favourite berry and come with so many childhood memories. I think I previously mentioned how my brother and I used to thieve them with our grotty little hands from the old lady's garden next door when we were kids. Seeing as I don't have any blind grannies living next door anymore, with loads of fat strawberries glaring at me through the crack in the fence, hubby comes home from the Brisbane markets with them instead. Legally obtained ones, of course.
Usually my two year old son gets to them first though, and has been known to scoff down a punnet in a sitting. Good thing they're high in vitamin C. When I think of that fact, I don't mind how many he eats.
So. Strawberries and custard, in a tart. How much better can it get? Oh wait! It's topped with strawberry jam as well. Delicious. And it's such a fancy looking yet simple dessert, and contains less sugar than my usual sweet morsels.
I added some lychee liqueur to the custard in my version of this tart, just to give it a more fruity, tropical twist. The smell is divine and the texture and taste just fabulous. The custard holds together beautifully, so if you go for the whole large tart instead of the smaller version, have no fear that it's going to squish everywhere out the sides when you cut it, as it chills nice and firm. The pastry case is particularly impressive too, resembling a (less crumbly) uncooked shortbread in the dough stage, and a nice, sturdy, crisp and sweet shell in the end. I will be keeping this recipe for other invented recipes, as you could fill these great pastry cases with anything from fruit to mousse, jelly or cheesecake! Don't forget to check out more delicious recipes from this months Secret Recipe Club reveal, and head over to Wives With Knives for the original recipe, which is a whole tart instead of my little individual ones. Bon appetit!

STRAWBERRY CREAM TART (Adapted from Wives With Knives)


Patisserie Creme:

2 cups milk
6 large egg yolks, room temperature
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tbsp. corn flour
1 heaped tsp. butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp lychee liqueur 


Pastry:

3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
1 3/4 cup plain flour
pinch salt

Garnish:

12 strawberries, fanned (see directions below)
 3 tbsp strawberry jam to glaze


To make the patisserie creme, place the milk in a saucepan over high heat until boiling. Meanwhile, beat the yolks and sugar in a bowl on medium high until it is light yellow and falls into the bowl as a ribbon, after about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla essence. On a low speed, beat in the corn flour until well combined. Once the milk has boiled, remove from heat and, with the beaters running on low, pour the milk into the egg mixture. Combine. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return to the heat. Lower the heat to medium and stir continuously with a whisk until the mixture is thick and the corn flour is cooked, after about 8 minutes. Bring this custard to the boil and cook, whisking for another 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Stir in butter, vanilla and liqueur. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled.
To make the pastry, preheat the oven to 180C.
Place the butter and sugar in a medium bowl and beat until just combined. Add the vanilla.Sift the flour and salt over the top of the butter mixture. Beat until a dough begins to form.
With a light hand, gently combine the mixture and form into 12 rough ball shapes, all of equal size. Place each ball inside the holes of a regular sized, 12 hole muffins tray. If you are using a regular muffin tray, ensure it is well greased.
Press the dough into the holes and up the sides to make pastry cases. Make sure the dough is pressed evenly around the sides and bottom. Place the tray in the refrigerator to chill for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile cut out 12 squares of non stick baking paper to fit inside the muffin tray holes. Place these papers inside each hole on top of the chilled pastry. Use pastry weights or rice over each paper to ensure the pastry does not rise in the first faze of cooking. Place the tray into the oven and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and gently remove the papers and their weights. Poke a few holes in the pastry bases using a fork. Return the pastry cases to the oven and cook for a further 15-20 minutes, or until golden and crisp looking. Cool in the tray, then remove and place on a cooling rack.
Fill each case with the patisserie creme. You can simply spoon it in or pipe it in for a prettier effect, as the creme is quite thick. Top with a fanned strawberry, and brush with jam to glaze. Serve with cream, if desired.

Making a fanned strawberry garnish:

 Lay the strawberry on a flat surface. Working from about a cm from the green stalk, cut a series of thin slices through the strawberry in a vertical motion from one side to the next. Take the strawberry and gently urge the slices apart in a fan motion. Voila!

NOTES: You can substitute the lychee liqueur for any desired flavouring, however, the intensity of flavourings differ, so add only a little at a time until you reach the desired strength. 1 tsp of cognac or brandy is a good substitute. If you are not using a silicone muffin tray, ensure the tray is well greased before placing the pastry inside the holes. You can also make this as one whole tart, by pressing the dough into a 10 inch round or 9 inch square false bottom tart pan. If you are using rice as a pastry weight, you can keep this and reuse this, as it will be unaffected by the heat.

 

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!