Recipe - Anzac Biscuits

How could you not smile at chocolate
smiley faces?

Anzac Biscuits are an Australian childhood favourite. They are an incredibly easy biscuit to bake. They are regulars at outings or events where one feels the need for a quick dose of sugar to keep them going.

These biscuits have become my signature dish. Given that it is Australia Day, I thought that I would share this recipe. Unlike commercial Anzac Biscuits, this recipe produces a firm, yet chewable biscuit so you do not need to worry about breaking a tooth anytime soon.

Like other recipes I have posted so far, I have deviated from the original. The original recipe came from my mother's Good House Keeping recipe book. Whilst I am a fan of the original recipe, I have made two small tweaks. Firstly, I have omitted 1 ounce of chopped walnuts. Secondly, I have added an extra teaspoon of golden syrup to counteract the bitterness of the bicarbonate of soda.

Once baked, I like to personalise these cookies, by drawing smiley faces on them with melted dark chocolate. Because these are rustic cookies, I use a small spatula as a ‘paintbrush’ rather than piping the melted chocolate. I used to use a spoon, but have found that the spatula is easier to work with.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Darkbyte xxx


Anzac Biscuits

Ingredients:
4 oz butter
1 1/4 tbsp. golden syrup
1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp. water
3 oz plain flour
8 oz caster sugar
3 oz desiccated coconut
4 oz rolled oats

Method:
1. Heat oven to moderate (350 degrees F)
2. Grease two baking sheets
3. Melt the butter with the golden syrup in a saucepan, then cool for a short time
4. Add the bicarbonate of soda blended wit the water
5. In a bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients
6. Gradually stir in the contents of the saucepan, blending well
7. Roll the mixture into walnut sized balls and place on the baking sheets allowing room for spreading
8. Bake in the center of the oven for 12-15 minutes
9. Cool slightly before removing from the sheets.

How Do You Store Your Decorating Tips?

I must confess I am a decorating tip addict. I am sure that I will never use at least 50% of the decorating tips in my collection, but I just like to have them. My collection started with a Wilton master cake decorating tip set that I purchased from one of my favourite online stores ‘His & Hers Treasures.’ Since this initial purchase, I have added about ten tips to my collection and have another eight on my wish list.

This ever-growing collection brings me to the question: How do you organise your decorating tips? Do you order them by number, by style (e.g. basket weave, open star, closed star, drop flower, leaf, etc), or by their frequency of use? Do you leave spaces for the tips that you do not own yet, but hope to purchase in the future?

For the moment, I have my decorating tips ordered sequentially. I was thinking about ordering them by category, but until I can recognise which numbers belong to a given category, using a sequential system makes life easier when a book tells me to use tip X (the numbers for some of the Wilton speciality tips have me stumped). Even though I was tempted, I have not gone as far as to leave spaces for the tips that I do not own yet.

I keep my collection in two Wilton Large Tip Saver cases. I am a fan of these cases. They are very sturdy and easy to transport. You can throw a case into the car and not worry about your tips moving from their positions. I will do a more detailed review of the tip saver cases later this week.


Wishing you all a happy New Year

Darkbyte xx

My 30th Birthday/New Year Cake – Part One

No matter how many times you tell yourself that turning 30 is the same as turning 29, it is not. Perhaps it is everyone else’s expectations that make it different. We live in a small apartment, so having a party is not really an option, especially on New Year’s Eve. We normally attend a New Year’s Eve party thrown by our friends. I am very lucky they normally put some candles on a cake and wish me a happy birthday.

This year I have decided to make my own birthday/New Year cake to take to the party. I was in two minds whether to make a chocolate mud cake, or go with something lighter. New Years Eve in Australia is normally a sweaty affair. Temperatures are normally in the high thirty degrees. For this reason, I have decided against a heavy mud cake and chosen a more summery cake. The recipe for the cake was adapted from the ‘lime and coconut’ cake recipe from Mich Turner’s book Fantastic Party Cakes.

Due to ingredient availability, I had to make a few substitutions. Instead of using a block of creamed coconut as per the original recipe, I opted for tinned coconut cream. To be honest, I have never seen a block of creamed coconut. As a work around, I skimmed the congealed coconut cream from an unshaken tin, and substituted it gram for gram for the original ingredient. I also omitted the 2 tablespoons of milk included in the original recipe assuming that the coconut cream would have added enough liquid to the batter.

Another substitution that I needed to make due to ingredient availability was to use white caster sugar instead of golden caster sugar. I see golden caster sugar used in many recipes, however for some reason none of the supermarkets in my area stock it. Is there a great difference between the two?

The final change to the cake recipe was baking the cake in a small round cake tin as opposed to two sandwich tins, which appeared to double the cooking time. My adapted recipe is as follows:


Coconut Cake

Ingredients:
200g unsalted butter, softened
200g white caster sugar
200g self-raising flour
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
100g coconut cream, skimmed from the to of an unshaken tin

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius (fan forced).
2. Measure the cake ingredients into a large bowl and whisk until you have a smooth batter (I used my food processor).
3. Pour the batter into a small lined cake tin (7"/18cm) and cover with a piece of baking paper to stop the top of the cake from browning too quickly.
4. Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes until risen, light golden and the cake springs back when pressed.


The resulting cake is quite dense, however it is moist and has a very light flavour. To be honest, the flavour is so light, that it is hard to tell what it is. I am not sure how much of the coconut taste I have lost by substituting coconut cream for creamed coconut. Should I have added some coconut essence, or desiccated/shredded coconut?

I am glad I decided to make a test cake, before making my actual birthday cake. Overall, I am quite happy with how the cake turned out. I covered the test cake in a plain buttercream icing. I am planning to use a combination of lemon and lime buttercream on the final cake.

I took the time to practise my decorating skills. I am quite rusty. Covering a cake in buttercream is not as easy as it seems. My edges were far from crisp and the sides far from smooth. I also attempted to pipe some buttercream roses. These were a disaster. Perhaps it was the heat (36 degrees Celsius), or the buttercream itself - I had used a frosting buttercream recipe (100%), rather than a decorator’s buttercream. Either way, I will make the buttercream roses for the cake ahead of schedule. I am sure the resident nom-monster will have no problems eating those that are not of a sufficient standard to make it onto the final cake.

Here are a couple of photos:

Smoothing buttercream is not as easy as it looks!

The petal edges are a bit jagged :( 

10 Tips For Making Gingerbread Houses

I am by no means a master of gingerbread house construction, but I thought I would still share a few of the tips and tricks I have learned along the way. Gingerbread houses are rare in Australia. In the last couple of years, they have started to gain momentum through the sale of pre-made kits through local supermarket chains. Most people I speak to think that they are a ridiculous amount of work and very hard to make. They can be hard work, but it is completely up to you how hard you make it. So far, I have made two gingerbread houses and one gingerbread sleigh using cutter sets that I purchased from my local department store. You can find gingerbread house cutters in a number of cake decorating and kitchen stores. To be perfectly honest, there is nothing wrong with creating your own templates out of cardboard and cutting the pieces by hand. I have compiled a list of tips for those who are considering building their own gingerbread house. I hope that they may alleviate the number tears and screams coming from the kitchen. If you have some tips and tricks of your own to share, please leave a comment. Darkbyte's Tips For Making Gingerbread Houses 1. Start small. I remember browsing the Internet seeing amazing houses built by gingerbread veterans. I am thankful that I decided to keep things simple. Whilst they are easy to build the second time around, the first time can be hair rising and many a scream for help may be heard coming from the kitchen. 2. Make sure help is at hand. The first time I built a gingerbread house, the sides split and the roof started to slide off. A second pair of hands is always well worth having. 3. Pick your day and plan ahead. Make sure it is not too hot, that the icing melts/takes forever to dry. Gingerbread house building takes a long time. I like to cook my pieces the two days before Christmas, and decorate the house on Christmas Eve. Remember, this is a fun exercise, so make sure you give yourself enough time to enjoy what you are doing. 4. Make sure you give your creation plenty of time to dry. If you have misjudged the time needed to finish your gingerbread house, you may find yourself sitting in the car with the air-conditioning set to arctic and holding your creation together whilst dreading the thought of speed bumps and potholes. This is why I make a point to have it completed the night before, you only want to do one such car ride in your lifetime. 5. Invest in some stainless steel poultry lacers. I prefer using these to regular skewers because they are shorter and smaller in diameter. This means that there are less chances of cracking your gingerbread and they are less likely to get in your way. These are necessary, especially if you do not have a second pair of hands to help you. Any holes created by the lacers can be covered with icing sugar or candy. 6. Make sure you have a good base on which to sit your gingerbread. I have a melamine platter that I use solely for gingerbread construction. Choose your base wisely, make sure that there is enough room for additional decorations around the house e.g. trees and footpaths. I strongly recommend ‘cementing’ your gingerbread house to the board during construction so changing your mind about your base is not an option. 7. Where possible pre-decorate your roof and walls. This is especially good if you plan to make intricate candy or icing designs. The first time I made a house, I put it together undecorated and tried to stick chocolate buttons to the roof. It was a stupidly hot day (38+ degrees C) and they kept sliding off! 8. Purchase some square candies. Liquorish All-Sorts, Jersey Caramels and other square confectioneries are a great internal reinforcement for internal walls together. They also help to keep your corners square. If you pipe bows on top of the remaining square candies, they make great ‘presents’ to put in piles around the house. 9. Do not put too much candy on your roof! A heavy roof can lead to walls bursting at the seams! I must admit, I roll my roof pieces a fraction thinner than my walls to reduce the weight. Remember to take the roof pieces out of the oven earlier than your walls so that they do not overcook. 10. Remember to take photos of your gingerbread creation. With the crazy rush that is Christmas day, I often forget to take proper photos of my finished creations. It is worth paying attention to what is in the background of your photo as it can be a bit embarrassing when you are showing them to people.

Where possible pre-decorate as many parts as possible. Poultry lacers are great for holding the various pieces together as they dry. Square candies are a great tool for ensuring 90 degree corners. These candies also make good 'gifts' when decorated with royal icing ribbons and bows When taking photos pay attention to what can be seen in the background.

Welcome

Gingerbread house!

Daisies.... Arrrggghh!

Random flowers and a couple of roses

Welcome to my cake decorating blog!

Cake decorating is an amazing art form. The sheer variety of skills required to create a masterpiece from such fragile components is absolutely amazing. I am fascinated by the skill involved to create flowers and figures using royal icing and buttercream.

My entry into the world of cake decorating came about through the creation of gingerbread houses for my boyfriend’s family Christmas get together. At the time I was not much of a cook and felt hesitant to bring a dish to that would sit next to an Italian mamma’s tried and true recipe. I was shopping with my mum one day and saw a gingerbread house cutter kit for sale at our local department store. We were curious. The kit cost all of $10, so we though “why not, it could be fun.” It was fun, and the house was a hit.

I spent the next couple of Christmases creating more and more elaborately decorated houses. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that I should be doing more with royal icing that using it as gingerbread glue. This is when I started to look at cake decorating.

I remember spending a weekend trying to pipe daises - they drove me up the wall. They seem so incredibly simple, yet to actually sit there and pipe one takes an amazing amount of coordination and patience. Roses are not as easy as they seem either!


The aim of this blog is to share my journey into the cake decorating world. Despite my frustrations with daisies, I am committed to (or should be committed) mastering this art form. I will be sharing links to a number of tutorials and videos that I have found, along with reviewing some of the books that I have received as gifts. Eventually, I would like to create and share my own tutorials.

I am hoping that others will benefit from my ambition, whether it is from time saved looking for tutorials, or having a giggle at my disasters.

Please feel free to leave comments. I love to hear what other people are doing and always welcome feedback.

Thankyou for stopping by.

Darkbyte xx