Peanut Brittle Slice

Well... doesn't time fly when your having fun? It seems to be flying for me even when I'm not. I can't for the life of me believe how quickly the weeks are blurring together to form months. Its been nearly 3 weeks since my last post, I think thats a bit of a record. Its not that I haven't had recipes to put up, in fact I have a number of them, its just that I haven't found the time. So I hope no one has been waiting for their next sugary fix.
Wedding season is back in full gear and between that and spending every free minute sanding little Miss Daisy, which has had its fair number of dramas I might add, I have just lost track of time,

This next recipe is one I made months ago, so many months ago I can't even recall why. but its good, supper tasty in fact, just a little on the hard side to eat.

Peanut Brittle Chocolate Slice

Base

200 g butter

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

Filling

1/2 cup corn syrup

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 water

50g butter

2 cups unsalted peanuts

1/4 cup cream

Topping

250g dark chocolate

50g butter

pre heat the oven to 170C

To make the base, cut the butter into cubes and rub into the flour and baking powder until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Then stir through the sugar and combine the egg until the mixture forms a dough. Press this into a 20 x 30 cm tin and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown, remove from the oven and set aside.

To make the filling, place the corn syrup, sugar and water into a saucepan and heat until the mixture becomes golden, swirl the pot rather than stirring the ingredients, or alternatively use a wet pastry brush to brush down the sides.  Remove from the heat and stir through the butter and cream, be very carful as the mixture with splatter and rise up. Stir through the peanuts and pour into the base immediately. 

To make the topping, place the chocolate and butter into a double boiler and heat until the chocolate has melted. Pour over the slice and leave to cool. Cut when cooled.

Super Yummy Raspberry Tart

Let me introduce you to the newest member of the Little Box Brownie Family, My newest Toy, the most exciting purchase ever, the cuties thing you ever did see.............. Drum roll please..........

My little 1950's bondwood caravan. Isn't she a dream? Granted she needs a lot of work, but isn't she cute?

I told you a few months ago about my mid life crisis and how I was looking for a little caravan well I found her just a couple of k's down the road, there she stood in the middle of a huge paddock, with daises spring up around her. I didn't even look inside her as the owner couldn't find the key but she was just what I was looking for so I told him I would take her. Well he looked at me like are your serious, your going to take her? Yep I'll take her! He asked me quite a few times if I wanted to think about it, nope I said I'll take her.
You realise she needs a lot of work he asked, and you don't want to look inside?, yep thats fine I'll take her. So I gave him a deposit and said I would be back. I was going to have to get new tyres for her before I could drive her as hers tyres where flat and cracked. So the lovely gentleman I brought her off said he would get some and change them for me.
In order to thank him for changing the tyres for me and selling me his awesome caravan, I baked him and his wife this little tart. Nothing is better than home baked goodness, well not in my book there isn't.

I haven't thought of a name for her yet any ideas?
My list so far is...

• Little B
• Cookies and cream (because she will be cream) I can't take credit for this name, it was my sisters. 
• truly scrumptious (because when I drive around with her I sing the song from chitty chitty bangbang, your truly scrumptious, yes truly, truly scrumptious. (at the top of my lungs I might add)
• Miss daisy (Because I'm driving miss daisy)
• Gerty
• lola
• Cupcake (cos she is so cute)

Raspberry Tart

Pastry

125g butter

1 3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup almond meal

1 egg

Filling

75g butter

1 Tablespoon flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 egg

1 cup raspberries 

To make the base, place the butter, flour, sugar and almond meal into a food processor, and process until fine breadcrumbs form. Then add the egg and pulse a few times until a dough forms.

Roll out and place in a lined 12x35cm tray, place in the fridge for 30minutes.

Pre heat the oven to 160C

Blind bake the tart case for 10 minutes then remove the beans and bake for another 10minutes or until golden.

To make the filling,place the butter into a saucepan and heat until the butter melts and starts to foam, remove from the heat and set aside.

Place the flour, sugar and egg into a bowl, using and electric beater, whisk until light and fluffy. Slowly pour in the butter while whisking until it is all incorporated. 

Place the raspberries into the tart case and pour over the mixture. 

Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. or until golden

Pumpkin Reese Cookies

Om nomm nomm, mmmmmmm cookies.... That about sums it up.

These little ones are my tribute to spooky Halloween, not that it is really celebrated in this part of the world. Why I'm not sure, who wouldn't love to get bags full of sweet lollies and candies from people, I know I would. As a kid I dreamed of living in the US, or at least visiting during Halloween, so I could get bucketfuls of sweets. But sadly that never happened. But now I'm old and no one can tell me what to do, I can buy all the sweets and lollies I want arrrrrhaaa haaa haaa. So when I was in this candy shop the other day just breathing in the sweet aromas, I spied a huge packet full of little Reeses, which are American chocolate covered peanut butter cups. So I thought it was more than fitting to make some pumpkin reese cookies, for you all to celebrate the spookiest night of the year.

Happy Baking and eating xxx

Pumpkin Reeses Cookies

2/3 cup pumpkin puree

1/2  vegetable oil 

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2/3 cup sugar

2 1/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

15 mini Reeses

Pre heat oven to 150C

Place pumpkin, oil, vanilla and sugar into a bowl and mix to combine. Sift the flour, baking powder and soda into a bowl and then add to the pumpkin mixture and stir. Chop the Reeses into half's and sprinkle through the dough and combine. Spoon the mixture onto a lined tray and bake for 15 minutes or until cooked.

Makes 10

Strawberry Friands

Time to pack a picnic and head to a park with open fields or head to the beach and curl your feet into the sand and relish in the spring sun. Grab a friend or two, perhaps a special someone and get out there and do it. Take a little treat with you, these little friands would do very nicely. I love them and their something a little bit special than just a muffin, after all their french, oh la la. So go on hop to it, get baking.

Strawberry Friands

1 cup icing sugar

1/3 cup plain flour

1 cup almond meal

4 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

150g butter

7 strawberries

Pre heat oven to 150C

Sift the flour, icing sugar and almond meal into a bowl, then stir through the egg white and vanilla essence. Melt butter in the microwave, and then stir through the mixture.

Chop the strawberries into slices and reserve 8 pieces to decorate. Stir the strawberries through and pour into a friand tin or muffin tray. Place a reserved strawberry on top. Bake for 15 minutes.

Makes 8

Gingery Vanilla Slice

Who loves vanilla slice? I don't mean that awful stuff they sell at a lot of bakery's, that rubber that they try to pass off as vanilla slice, I mean the fresh home made slice, the slice that tastes fresh and most importantly tastes real. The slice that when you bite into, it just ooze's out and has to be licked from the plate. Its not the most perfectly lady like slice to eat, but wow how worth it it is to make yourself.
 Have you ever made it? No? Well jump to it! I have a wonderful vanilla slice just for you, with a little bit of a twist. I've added a smudge of crystallised ginger to the mix which gives this slice a new and revived taste, equally as good as the original. As a bonus it has little chewy gingery bits, amazing.

Happy baking.
Sophia xxx

P.S Check out the awesome article on The Vivant 'Top 25 blogs to book mark now', they have included Little Box Brownie with some of the most fantastic blogs and have given me the most amazing write up, I am so thankful for the kind words. Please check it out.

Gingery Vanilla Slice

2 sheets store bought puff pastry 

1 1⁄2 cups milk 

1 cup cream 

5 egg yolks 

2⁄3 cup white sugar 

1⁄4 cup of cornflour 

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 cup of crystallised ginger

Preheat oven to 180°C 

Cut both pieces of puff pastry to the size of the cake tin if you don't have one the same size as the puff pastry otherwise use that. Place both sheets of puff pastry on a baking tray with another baking tray over the top of the pastry this is so it doesn’t puff too much. Bake until golden. Place one of the sheets into the cake tin.

Meanwhile, to make the filling, place the milk, cream, yolks, sugar, cornflour, ground ginger and the crystallised ginger into a saucepan over a low heat. Whisking constantly until the mixture becomes thick. Pour over the sheet of puff pastry. Place the other sheet of pastry on top. Cover with cling wrap and place in the fridge for 6 hours to set.

Blackberry Slice

A few weeks ago months ago (man times flies), I headed to the country in pursuit of an old 50's bond wood caravan. I found one on gumtree which was 3 hours away. I know totally nuts, who drives 3 hours to look at a old caravan? Me, thats who! I put it down to my mid life no scratch that my quarter life crisis, most people buy fast red cars, not me I go looking for the old vintage stuff. 

So I headed off to the country with my Mum, who I persuaded to come along with me for the company, that and I need a car with a tow-bar on it. See totally nuts I don't even have a car that can pull a caravan!! Anyway we headed off and because we where out in the county I figured that would be the place to find an old caravan just incase the one we where off to see wasn't right, which sadly it wasn't. So this is how the trip went the whole way there and back, yep 6 hours of it, well something to this effect. 

Mum is that a caravan?

No its a truck

Is that a caravan?

No its a sheet on someones clothes line

Mum is that a caravan?

Yes but too modern

Is that a caravan

No its a goat

Is that one?

No its a car

Is that one?

Yes but too modern

Until...

Is that a caravan??

No its not a caravan its just an over grown carport

Are you sure, it looks like a caravan to me?

So Mum jumps out to have a look and sure enough its an old wooden caravan.

The owner a older gentleman, Joe, happened to be in his garden and comes out. He shows me the caravan which sadly had been sitting there a very long time and the whole back of it had fallen out and the contents of the caravan were slowly finding there way to the great outdoors. It was a bit far gone for my handy woman skills.

Joe lives in a little town about 1.5 hours from Melbourne, where he has an amazing garden filled with all types of veggies. Joe and my Mum got on like a house on fire, as they both share a love of gardening, we were at Joe's for about an hour with them discussing the way to plant different types of plants. We left Joe's with a few rather large bags of plant cuttings for my Mum to plant. 

Dotted all along the road side near Joe's where blackberry plants which reminded me of where I lived as a child, there were no blackberries on the bush, however it gave me a craving for that sweet juicy taste that only blackberries have, so when I got back to Melbourne I decided I would whip this next recipe up for you, which unfortunately uses canned blackberries rather than fresh ones but hey, its sweet and delicious. 

Blackberry Slice

Filling

1 can blackberries with liquid (415g)

1 cup sugar

Pastry 

200g butter

2 cups flour

1/3 cup almond meal

1/2 sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

Pre heat oven to 150C

Place the blackberries and sugar into a saucepan and simmer until  the mixture starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Place the butter, flour, almond meal and sugar in a food processor and pulse until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Then pulse in the egg and water until a dough forms. Remove from the processor and knead a couple of times. Press half the dough into a lines 25X20 cm tin. Pour in the filling and then roll out the remaining dough and cut into strips, lay these over the top to form a lattice pattern. Place in the oven and bake for 30mins or until golden.