Crunchies...

...A firm South African favourite



Crunchies were a staple for me growing up. Everybody I knew who sold sweets out of their homes or at schools sold crunchies. Everytime I make these I am overwhelmed by feelings of nostalgia. I remember begging my mother every day after school for 20c for popcorn and 50c for my daily crunchie fix. Wow... it seems like centuries ago and yet I still love these.


I remember the first day I made these for my niece and nephew(aged 6 and 7). I told them that I was going to make them crunchies. They looked at me with strange expressions on their faces and the exclaimed that they didn't know what crunchies are. They waited eagerly as I made and baked the crunchies and after one bite the first comment out their mouths were, "Aunty Diane we've had these before but we didn't know what they were called". I'm guessing that with all the food restrictions being placed on schools these days they aren't so popular with the kids anymore. Since making these for them they always request them when I call or visit them.

Crunchies, whether they are in the form of biscuits (cookies) or bars are made with the same basic ingredients which include oats, coconut and golden syrup. To spice them up you could also add your favourite chopped dried fruits and/or nuts or even chocolate chips. My favourite additions are dried apricots, pecan nuts or chocolate chips. I always love to drizzle them with melted chocolate after they have been cut and cooled in the pan.

2 cups (500ml) flour
2 cup (500ml) oats
2 cup (500ml) coconut
1 cup (250ml) sugar
250 g butter or margarine
4 tablespoons golden syrup (add about 2 tablespoons more if you like your crunchies a little chewy)
2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

1. Mix all the dry ingredients for the crunchies, except for the baking soda in a large bowl.
   
2. Heat the butter and syrup in a saucepan until all the butter has melted.
   
3. Add the bicarb (baking soda) and stir until frothy.
   
4. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix well.
   
5. Spread the mixture evenly into a medium sized greased baking pan, about 10 by 8 inches.
   
6. Press firmly with your hands or the the back of a spoon to press until the top of the
   mixture is smooth and even.
   
7. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 350dgrees F until golden brown
   
8. Cut into squares while still warm and leave in pan to cool completely.
   
9. Store in an airtight containter.

Viva la Macaron

Yesterday when I got home from work I had a strong desire to be in the kitchen baking up something good and since I didn't have to cook any supper I had all the time I needed. I opened the cupboard and the first two things I saw was a packet of chopped almonds and a bag of icing sugar. A light went off in my head and suddently I had a vision of macarons.

I have yet to try these sweet treats mostly because I've always been afraid that it would be too complicated for a humble home baker like myself. Reading all the comments people had about making macarons at home didn't help much either. I've always hated been a failure and so whenever possible I try to avoid things which I think have a failure possibility.

I thought what the heck I'll just do it for fun (I can be a perfectionist sometimes and take what I do very seriously). I had 20 minutes before the final episode of Ugly Betty season 2 starts. I though I'd get it into the oven before that.

I had printed a few recipes over the past couple of weeks but I knew exactly which one I was going to try. I sprung off the couch to retrieve David Lebovitz recipe for chocolate macarons from my recipe collection. I chose his because it didn't seem too complicated and also because he tried and tested his recipe so many times. To my dismay I couldn't find my book and then I remembered that I had left it at my sister-in-law's place 2 weekends ago (I baked up a storm that weekend). Then it struck me I'll just get it over the internet. I hate reading from screens when I'm baking and prefer to have a hard copy but I really wanted to make these so I went ahead. I looked at the time...and oh my gosh....it was now 5 minutes before Ugly Betty started.

No time to get the spice grinder which was stored too far out of reach (see I don't have a food processor and I needed it to grind the almonds) so I reached for the hand blender. I knew that it wasn't going to do a very good job of grinding the almonds but I thought what the heck I'm doing this for fun. You will notice the little almond specks on the surface of my macarons.

So I ground the almonds, measured the icing sugar and cocoa, seperated the eggs and then I noticed the tv auto tuning to Ugly Betty - I wasn't about to miss the final episode of a show I so love. I left everything as is and then went into the lounge to watch the final (sob sob) episode (sob sob) of Ugly Betty. This show always gets me in stitches which is sought of therapeutic for me especially on stressful days. My boyfriend doesn't get it and just shakes his head everytime I crack up laughing.

During the first ad break I sifted the ground almonds, cocoa and icing sugar together in a bowl.

During the second ad break I started to whip the eggs but I had just enough time to add the sugar before whipping the egg whites to stiff peaks.

During the third ad break I continued to whip the egg whites and then I thought to hell with that I'm going to watch Ugly Betty in peace so I left everything standing until the credits went up.

I went back into the kitchen - with a heavy heart - to finish my macarons. I whipped the egg whites again cause I wasn't really satisfied with them. Folding in the dry ingredients got me nervous cause I read on David's blog that one wrong fold or one fold too many and then it's all over.

I folded in the dry ingredients carefully, quickly piped little mounds on my baking tray (as you can see by looking at my macarons) which I covered with greaseproof paper and popped them into the oven. I didn't leave them to stand because it was getting late.

I went back to the oven 13 minutes later to take a peek, and what do you know, I saw "feet". I would have sung "I believe I can fly" right there and then but it was late and people were about to sleep so I just gave a quiet shrill, closed the oven door and did a little happy dance. The "feet" on my macarons weren't as well developed as the one's I've seen on the macarons from the great pastry chefs (can Pierre Herme please stand up), but for a first time I would say that I got off on the right foot (no pun intended).

Pierre Hermé's Macaron Chocolat

Some of my dear friends might be wondering what "feet" are and why I was so excited to see them. The "feet" are the "lacy" edges you see around the base of macarons. The reason I was so excited was that I've read so many times of how people couldn't get it right the first time.

When the macarons were done I removed them from the oven and left them to cool to room temperature. I had a "should I shouldn't I" moment when it came to removing the macarons from the parchment paper. See I've read how people have had some trouble removing their macarons from the paper. I couldn't decide whether I should remove them with a spatula while they were still warm or if I should just leave them to cool and remove them later. I left them to cool for about 20 minutes and then what do you know.....it's time for happy dance number 2. I managed to peel off the macarons (carefully and slowly) without any trouble.

I wasn't going to do the prune filling the recipe called for and I didn't have any chocolate for the ganache so I decided to make chocolate buttercream. I threw (by now I'm tired with no energy for measuring) some butter, milk, cocoa and icing sugar into a bowl and whisked to a nice creamy buttercream. Surprisingly the buttercream turned out great and I regreted not paying attention to the amounts of ingredients I added. It wasn't too sweet, was the right consistency and had just the right level of richness and chocolate goodness. I thougjht I was going to be disappointed with using buttercream instead of the ganache but I found it quite satisfying.

I can't wait to try these again using the proper techniques called for in the recipe. I know I'm going to be making these again and again so don't frown when you see too many posts on macarons.

Chocolate Kissed Biscuits (Cookies)

What could be better than biscuits covered in chocolate with a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winters day. Every winter I make these and I can't get enough of them. Because I love chocolate so much I decided that I would like to try the chocolate version. I'm going to keep myself busy making these this coming weekend.

Don't make too many though otherwise you won't be able to keep your hand out of the biscuit tin. I always make and share with my friends and neighbours. You could use milk or dark chocolate with these but I prefer milk chocolate cause I find it not too overpowering. You don't need a lot of time to make these so they good for any day of the week. Bon Apetit!

Ingredients

225 g self-raising flour
90 g cocoa
30 g cornflour
225 g unsalted butter or margarine, softened
90 g icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
115 g chocolate, melted
icing sugar, for, dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Grease 2 large baking sheets.
3. Into a bowl sift together the flour,cocoa and cornflour.
4. In another large bowl beat the butter and icing sugar until fluffy.
5. With the beater on low speed gradually add in the flour mixture and vanilla essence until it becomes a soft dough.
6. Shape into'bar' shapes about 10cm long by 5cm wide. Allow room for spreading. OR Fill a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe and pipe into finger shapes about 5 to 10 cm long. Allow room for spreading.
7. Bake about 15-20 minutes until light golden brown, rotating baking sheets at half-time to allow for even cooking.
8. Keep an eye on them as they should only be slightly firm and all ovens are different.
9. Leave to cool for about 5 minutes on the baking tray and then transfer to a wire rack and cool until firm.
10. Dip one end of each cookie into melted chocolate and place back onto greaseproof paper and allow chocolate to set. Alternatively you could dust with icing sugar
11. Store in container with waxed paper between layers.

There are so many ways that you could change the recipe to give you differnt varieties.

• You could leave out the cocoa to make them plain. Pipe rosettes instead of "fingers" and dip the bottom of the biscuits in chocolate. If you want to make them extra special you can place a small glaced cherry in the centre of the biscuit prior to baking.

• You could also mix chopped pecans into the dough and instead of piping roll into little "fingers". Dust them with icing sugar after they have baked.

• You could also pipe circles and place a little jam in the centre before baking. Dust with icing sugar after they have baked.

The possibilities are endless! Have fun.

Chocolate Chip Cookies that warm the heart

It's been a long long time since I've made these but I still remember the warm fuzzy feeling I got after eating one of these out of the oven. Having been the first chocolate chip cookie recipe that I'd sampled I swore then and there that it will be the last. Crisp around the edges, soft and chewy in the centre, I had to practically chain my hands to keep myself from going back for more. I ate so much I could feel my hips expanding in a "Nutty Professor" kind of way. Nonetheless they were calories well spent. I'm gonna dig deep into the coffers to find this recipe cause I am really starting to crave these. Hopefully I'll be able to post the recipe so that you too can experience them (not for the faint hearted).