Book 4: The Complete Book of Baking

My kitchen looks like a bomb has hit it!  You can almost guarantee when ever I'm cooking anything that I will find some way to use at least every pan and bowl in my kitchen.  Yesterday was no exception, if anything it was actually worse than usual.  By the end of the day I had no dessert spoons left in the drawer and all of my pots were scattered all over the kitchen.  I honestly don't know how I make such a mess, I start off every time with a fairly clean kitchen and end up with a sticky, horrid mess.....   Its kind of like when I go off on a tangent, I can start off talking about how much I like chocolate (seriously how good is chocolate!!) and end up on my fruit trees and how I can't wait for all the fruit I'm going to have.  Like the mess I make I have no idea how I got there and can't really remember how it started!  :)   Anyway......

Recipe:  Brandy Snaps  
Which I've never made before (my Mum makes the best brandy snaps, so I better not stuff it up!) :)

125g Butter
125g Sugar
180g Golden Sugar
150g Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp ground Ginger
15ml Brandy (1 tbsp)

Place butter, sugar and syrup in a heavy-based saucepan.  Stir over moderate heat until sugar has dissolved.  Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Stir flour, salt and ginger into mixture.  Stir well and add brandy.

Drop teaspoonfuls of mixture onto greased baking tray, allowing enough space for spreading.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 10-12 minutes.  Remove with buttered spatula and roll around the greased handle of a wooden spoon.  Leave a few minutes until biscuit firms.

Store in an airtight container for a few days and fill with whipped cream, spooned or piped in.

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Vanilla Bean Pot de Creme and Brandy Snap with Raspberry Chantilly

This book is one of the books that I've had for years and have never made anything out of.  I have a bit of an issue with recipe books that try to fit as many recipes as possible per page.  I like to know what I'm cooking without trying to match it to the eight different pictures on the opposite page.  My issues aside, this book has HEAPS of recipes in it, tarts, cakes, pastry pizza etc etc.  I'm not sure that's a good thing?  I struggled to find something I wanted to cook, everything just blends into each other!  But I'll let that go (for now!) and tell you about my brandy snaps. 

Being the first time I've made them I thought they were a little heavy, I like delicate crumbly snaps and I thought mine were tad solid.  BUT, instead of the normal plain cream I filled them with raspberry Chantilly and that was awesome!  It was a little bit tart and sweet and seriously delicious.  I keep thinking of all the different things I can put it in, macaroons, chocolate cups (..drool..).  You may have noticed I've stopped talking about the book?  Nothing about it grabs me so back to the bookshelf it goes :)

The rest of dessert was made up of a Vanilla Bean Pot de Creme which I stole from my favourite food blog Brave Tart.  If your wanting to try your hand at the vanilla pots have a look here, Stella is amazing and this recipe is fabulous!  (and its dairy, that's so good for your bones!) Oh, just make sure you have stacks of eggs, I used almost 2 dozen making 1.5 batch's ....

Thanks

Kate

xx

Mothers day was yesterday and you will be happy to know my addiction was fed, I had worded up my 4 year old before she went shopping.  So as soon as they walked into Big W she started chanting Kate Bracks, Kate Bracks......  score :P