chocolate olive oil cake

chocolate olive oil cake

27 Apr 2020

With the restrictions imposed by Covid -19, like most other people I've been filling in my spare time with baking. Sometimes I feel like making something elaborate involving many steps and sometimes I don't. I'd planned to make something elaborate last weekend but I wasn't in the mood, so looked around for something else to make.




On my fridge I had an envelope on which I'd written a chocolate olive oil cake recipe which I'd adapted from a Julia Busuttil Nishimura recipe I found online. I looked through the cupboards and I had everything I needed to make the cake.



Sometimes it's an easy fix to halve a recipe to make a 17cm cake. Sometimes when the halved recipe asks for 1½ eggs, I use 2 eggs instead but I then need to adjust all the liquids a little to avoid making a sloppy mess. I made a little too much coffee so instead of using it in the cake, I decided to use it in the chocolate topping. I always have chocolate shards in the fridge, so I crumbled up a few and used them to decorate the top of the cake.




Here’s the recipe for you, inspired by Julia's. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. I have a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20ºC.



Chocolate Olive Oil Cake – makes a small bundt cake or a 17cm cake. If you'd like to make a larger cake then check Julia's  original recipe. If you'd like to top the cake with the chocolate coffee ganache, I'd make double the recipe.

Cake
125g self-raising flour
40g unsweetened cocoa
125g caster sugar
25g brown sugar
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
50ml olive oil
⅓ cup buttermilk
¼ cup warm coffee or water
1 tsp vanilla bean extract or vanilla essence

Chocolate coffee ganache
75g dark chocolate (at least 60%), chopped
50 mls hot coffee
Chocolate flakes to top, optional

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and dust a small bundt tin with cocoa powder then place in the fridge until needed. Otherwise grease and line the base and sides of a 17cm round tin with baking paper.

In a large bowl, sift the flour and cocoa, then add the sugars and sea salt. Mix to combine. In another bowl, whisk together the olive oil, eggs, buttermilk, coffee and vanilla until smooth.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for around 40-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when tested. Another way to test for doneness is by lightly pressing the top of the centre of the cake. It should be soft but spring back when pressed. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.



Chocolate coffee ganache
Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Add the hot coffee and allow to sit for a few minutes for the chocolate to melt. If the chocolate doesn’t completely melt, then heat the bowl in the microwave for 20 – 30 seconds. Once the chocolate has melted, stir vigorously until the mixture becomes thick and glossy. Allow the ganache to cool for a few minutes before pouring over the cooled cake. Top the cake with the chocolate flakes, if using, before placing on a serving dish.



I hope you like the recipe. See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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chewy white chocolate chunk cookies

chewy white chocolate chunk cookies

20 Apr 2020

I don't know about you but my sugar intake has increased big time since social distancing began. With no gym to burn off those excess calories, I've been doing some online work-outs at home but seriously they won't be able to reverse the damage that's been done.



When visiting friends, I always like to bring some home made goodies with me. I made these cookies a few weeks ago but social distancing put an end to that visit so there I was, left with a tin filled with biscuits. 



I've been nibbling on them for a few weeks now and I can assure you they keep really well in an airtight container. If the recipe looks a little familiar to you, it's because I adapted the Liz Prueitt gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe. The recipe is really versatile so use whatever you can get your hands on.


Here’s the recipe for you. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20ºC.

Chewy white chocolate chunk cookies – makes about a dozen
Ingredients
¾ cup plain flour
¼ cup almond meal
½ tsp bicarbonate soda
pinch salt
40g softened cream cheese
½ cup brown sugar
1 tbs milk 
1 tsp vanilla essence
100g unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
85g white chocolate cut into 1 cm chunks
75g toasted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
25g unsweetened coconut flakes
Sea salt flakes

Method
In a large bowl, combine the flour and almond meal with the bicarb soda and salt. In a separate bowl mix the softened cream cheese with the brown sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Stir in the egg then add the cream cheese mixture to the flour. Stir through the white chocolate pieces, the nuts and the coconut flakes. Place in the fridge overnight.

The following day, line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Preheat oven to 190°C. Scoop out tablespoons of the dough, sprinkle each cookie with sea salt before lightly flattening each cookie. Bake for about 10 minutes, firmly banging the tray halfway through the baking time to flatten the cookies. Place the tray on a cooling rack. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.



These are so easy to make and taste pretty good as well.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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buckwheat apple cake

buckwheat apple cake

13 Apr 2020

During the Covid-19 crisis every-one has been baking and a few weeks ago Danielle Alavarez's recipe for a buckwheat apple cake made using browned butter was all over the internet. 



I had a bag of organic buckwheat flour in the cupboard and 3 apples I'd planned to use in another cake recipe and I always have almond meal in the house, so I was good to go. Danielle's recipe was too small to read clearly on my phone so I adapted one of my old apple cake recipes to make my own version. 



Browned butter makes everything taste better but it also smells gorgeous. The whole house was perfumed with the characteristic nutty aroma as the cake baked. 



I decorated the cake with apple slices which sank to the bottom as the cake baked. When I checked the recipe I'd inadvertently left out 1/4 of the dry ingredients which is probably the reason why. The sliced apple topping is optional so you can miss this step out if you like.

Here’s the recipe for you, inspired by Danielle's. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20ºC.

Browned butter buckwheat apple cake - makes a 17 cm cake. if you'd like to make a 23cm cake, just double all the ingredients or use Danielle's recipe.

Cake 
125 g unsalted butter 

1½ cups coarsely chopped, peeled cooking apples - 1 large or 2 small Granny smith apples 

1 tbs lemon juice  

¾ cup buckwheat flour  

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda   

1 teaspoon cinnamon  
scant 1/2 cup almond meal 

⅓ cup brown sugar 
⅓ cup caster sugar  
1 teaspoon vanilla  

1 egg  

¼ cup milk or buttermilk 

  

Topping  

1 small green apple peeled, cored and thinly sliced

2 teaspoons butter, melted 

2 tsp sugar mixed with ¼ tsp cinnamon

  

Method

Place the unsalted butter into a small bowl. Cover the bowl and place in the microwave. Microwave on high for 5-6 minutes or until the butter has turned a nutty brown colour. Set aside to cool. While the butter is cooling, combine the coarsely chopped apple and the lemon juice in a small bowl. Set to one side for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.  Grease and line a 17 cm spring form tin with baking paper. 

Sift the buckwheat flour, bicarb soda and cinnamon into a small bowl. Stir through the almond meal and set to one side. In a medium size bowl combine the browned butter, the sugars and vanilla. Add the egg and beat until well combined. Add the flour mix in batches and sufficient milk to make a soft batter. Gently fold in the chopped apple. Spoon the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top. Top the cake with the sliced apples. Brush the apple slices with the melted butter then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.

Place the cake tin on the middle shelf in the oven and bake for 50 - 60 minutes at 180°C/350°F or until the cake is cooked when tested. If the cake is browning too quickly you may have to cover the top with a piece of greaseproof paper. Place the tin a wire rack to cool. When the cake has completely cooled, remove it from the tin and discard the lining paper.  

  

To serve - dust the cake with icing sugar before serving with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream or vanilla gelato.

The cake is lovely and moist and tastes even better a day or two after baking. I'll definitely be making this again this time remembering to measure all the ingredients properly.

See you all again next week with some more baking from.my kitchen. 

Bye for now,

Jillian 

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hot cross buns 2020

hot cross buns 2020

6 Apr 2020

Each year I make a batch of hot cross buns but as I dispense with the crosses I call them spiced fruit buns. I store the buns in the freezer until Passover has been and gone when they're devoured. I've made these buns twice this week, once for Everten and again for my own blog. As we're practising social distancing this year I shared the buns with my next door neighbours otherwise with all this baking, I'll be the size of a house once Covid-19 has been and gone. I think it's known as 'fattening the curve'.



For this years batch, I adapted the hot cross bun recipe from the Flour and Stone cookbook. The first version were pull apart hot cross buns, complete with wonky crosses. The pull apart hot cross buns were delicious but a bit small so the second time I made them, I made 12 regular sized buns. The second time I made the buns I changed the technique from the original method to the one I always use when making sweet buns. I like to pre-activate the yeast because sugar retards the action of the yeast and the buns don't tend to rise as well when dry yeast is used and I always melt the butter first in warmed milk.



I made the dough on Saturday, stored the shaped buns overnight in the fridge then baked them on Sunday morning. I had one for my breakfast and it was so delicious, I think these will become my go-to hot cross buns for the future. The orange scented syrup which dowses the buns is the real winner here.




Here's the recipe for you which makes 20 small pull apart buns or 12 regular size buns. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20ºC.  




Hot Cross Buns adapted from a Nadine Ingram recipe from the Flour and Stone Cookbook.
  
Fruit Mix
75g each sultanas and currants 
200 mls boiling water 
1 Earl Grey tea bag 
50g dried apricots or candied orange, chopped
1 tsp finely grated orange rind

Yeast Mixture 
10g dried yeast 
1 tsp plain flour 
1-2 tbls water

Bun Dough 
125 mls milk
60g unsalted butter, chopped
400g bread or plain flour
1 tsp fine salt 
2 tsp ground cinnamon 
¼ tsp each ground nutmeg, ground allspice and cloves 
60g soft brown sugar
1 egg

Crossing Mixture
100g plain flour
100 mls water
2 tbs sunflower oil
½ tsp ground nutmeg 

Glaze
100g caster sugar
2 tbs water
1 tsp finely grated orange rind
Strained juice of 1 orange

To serve 
Butter and jam 

Fruit soak
Place the sultanas, currants, tea bag and 200mls boiling water in a bowl. Set aside for an hour or until fruit is plump. Remove tea bag and drain fruit well discarding the liquid. Pat the fruit dry with a paper towel. Add the dried apricots and 1 tsp orange zest and set aside until needed.

Yeast Mixture
Place all ingredients into a small bowl and mix to form a paste. Cover and leave for 10 minutes or until small bubbles form. If bubbles don't form after 1 minutes, discard the batch and start again.

Dough
Heat the milk in a small saucepan or in the microwave until lukewarm. Add the chopped butter and allow the butter to melt. Sift the flour, salt and spices into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the sugar, the yeast mixture and egg. Mix together on a low speed adding enough of the milk mixture to form a sticky dough. Once incorporated, increase the speed to medium and mix for 7 minutes. The dough will have pulled away from the side of the bowl forming a ball. Add the fruit mixture and continue to mix until incorporated. The dough will be quite sticky at this point. Place the dough into a large lightly greased bowl. Cover and place in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently knead until no longer sticky. Divide into 20 equal pieces if making into a circle or 12 pieces if using a lamington tray. Use your hand to roll each piece on the work surface to form a round bun. Place buns close together on a baking stone or pizza tray lined with baking paper, cover with a tea towel and allow to prove until doubled in size, about 45 minutes. While the buns are proving, make the crossing mixture.

Crossing mixture
Place all the ingredients for the crossing mix in a bowl and whisk to form an elastic batter. If it’s too thick, add a little extra water. Fill a piping bag fitted with a 5mm plain nozzle. Once the buns have risen, pipe a cross on the top of each bun then take the baking paper and gently remove the paper with buns from the baking stone as the stone needs to be preheated before use. 

If using a baking stone, place the baking stone in a cold oven on the middle shelf and then turn the oven to 200ºC (conventional). Allow to heat for 15 minutes before carefully placing the buns onto the pre-heated stone. Return the baking stone to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the buns have risen a little. Rotate the baking stone or tray and bake for a further 10 - 15 minutes or until dark golden brown.  If you’re using a pizza tray or a lamington tin, place the tray in a pre-heated 200ºC oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the buns are a dark golden brown.

Glaze
While the buns are in the oven, make the glaze. Combine the sugar, water, 1 tsp of orange rind and the juice and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes or until syrupy. Remove the buns from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Brush hot cross buns with the glaze and cool a little, then slide the baking paper and buns onto a wire rack. Serve warm with butter and jam. 



I think these are best served on the day or reheated the next day in the microwave or toasted with butter and jam.

Wishing you all a safe and happy Easter.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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passover week 2020 - passover paris-brest

passover week 2020 - passover paris-brest

3 Apr 2020

Welcome to the final day of Passover Week 2020. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed I'll be able to get to Brisbane next weekend to help Dad cook for Passover. Dad makes a mean chicken soup but his matzo balls, not so good.



As I've noted before, superfine matzo meal makes really good choux pastry so choux pastry was always going to feature in Passover Week 2020. 



Mini Paris-Brests flooded instagram this year and who was I to buck the trend. Choux pastry I've made before but hazelnut praline was new to me as was a mousseline filling so I looked online for some recipes. The hazelnut praline worked out fine but I had a few challenges with the mousseline filling. I made the first batch of creme patissiere using potato starch. It turned gummy and set so hard I could have used it as wallpaper paste. I made a second batch using superfine matzo meal and it turned out beautifully. The finished hazelnut mousseline filling was just gorgeous and I'd love to use it again.



Making this recipe is a multi-step step process and a labour of love. If you'd like to give it a try, then here’s the recipe for you. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20ºC.



Passover Paris-Brest with Hazelnut Praline Cream - serves 6
Hazelnut praline
170 gm caster sugar
40 mls water
170 gm each roasted skinned hazelnuts/toasted almonds
Pinch salt

Hazelnut Mousseline Cream
250 mls whole milk
2 large egg yolks
½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
60g caster sugar
25g superfine matzo meal
125g unsalted butter
75g hazelnut praline paste

Choux Pastry
⅔ cup water
50g unsalted butter
⅔ cup superfine matzo meal
Large pinch salt
3 - 4 eggs, at room temperature

To serve: 25g coarsely halved roasted hazelnuts and icing sugar



Hazelnut praline
Stir sugar and 40ml water in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, then brush down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush and bring to the boil, swirling pan as mixture starts to caramelise, until dark caramel (5-6 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in the nuts and a pinch of salt with a lightly oiled fork, tip onto a lightly oiled baking tray and stand until set (40 minutes). Coarsely crush praline, then process three-quarters (reserve remaining in an airtight container to serve) in a food processor, scraping down sides occasionally, until a paste forms (5-6 minutes). Store in an airtight container at room temperature until required.

Mousseline Cream
Place the milk in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Place the egg yolks, vanilla if using, caster sugar and matzo meal into a large bowl and mix to combine into a thick paste. 

Pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking to prevent the eggs from overcooking. Pour the custard back into the pan and place back over the heat and cook, whisking constantly until thickened and bubbling, then cook for a minute or so more. Remove from the heat, mix in 25g of the butter then scrape into a bowl. Press a sheet of cling-film directly onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until needed. 

Leave the remaining butter at room temperature. To finish off the mousseline place the remaining 100g butter into a large bowl and beat in a stand mixer until smooth and creamy then add the praline paste and mix to combine. Remove the pastry cream from the fridge and using a whisk beat until brought back to a smooth texture. Add the pastry cream to the praline mixture in 3 or so additions, beating until fully combined to prevent lumps. Check for sweetness and adjust if necessary. If the texture looks a little shiny and loose return the bowl in the fridge for up to an hour.

Choux pastry
Preheat oven to 200°C. Draw six 6cm circles (use a cup or a cutter as a template) onto a sheet of baking paper. Flip the paper upside down and place on a baking sheet. Stir the water and butter in a saucepan and over a medium heat, bring to the boil. Add matzo meal and salt and stir with a wooden spoon for 1 minute or until the dough comes away from the side of the pan. Set aside for 5 minutes. Transfer dough to a large bowl. Use electric beaters to beat eggs into dough, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, until well combined and glossy. You may not need all the eggs so use any remaining egg as egg wash. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle/.7cm fluted nozzle. 

Pipe rings of the still warm choux pastry around each of the circles, sealing ends with a flick of the wrist. Pipe a second ring of pastry around the outside of the first so the rings touch. Brush lightly with egg wash, scatter with the chopped hazelnuts and bake for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 180°C and bake until golden brown and puffed (20-25 minutes). Allow to cool a little before splitting horizontally with a serrated knife. Remove any uncooked dough and return the choux to the oven for a further 5 minutes or until dried out. Cool completely on wire racks.



To assemble, spread the bases with a little of the hazelnut praline paste. Pipe hazelnut mousseline cream over the bases in a decorative pattern, scatter with crushed hazelnut praline, sandwich lightly with choux ring tops, dust with icing sugar and serve. These are best eaten on day of making. 

I took these into work where they were very well received. I hope you enjoyed this year's Passover Week. See you all again next week with a little Easter baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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passover week 2020 - apple and almond layer cake

passover week 2020 - apple and almond layer cake

2 Apr 2020

Welcome to Day 4 of Passover Week 2020.



I've had this Nigella Lawson apple almond cake recipe bookmarked for ages and it was very well reviewed on her website. This cake is both gluten and dairy free making it perfect for Passover and if served without cream, it's also pareve.



The cake is a light and airy confection made from stewed apples flavoured with lemon, eggs, sugar and almond meal. Many of Nigella's readers separated the eggs; whisking the whites then folding them into the batter. That sounded like a good idea so that's what I did.



Another of the commenter's mentioned that she made the cake into a layer cake for her daughter's birthday. That also sounded like a great idea and with a pot of berry jam to use, I sandwiched the layers together with softly whipped cream and jam.



Originally I was going to decorate the cake with even more whipped cream but in the end I decided all the cake needed was a light dusting of icing sugar.



Here's the recipe for you which make a 17 cm cake or a 16 cm layer cake. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional gas oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.

Apple and Almond Layer Cake (adapted from Nigella Lawson) – makes a 16 cm layer cake. 

Apple Puree
1-2 Granny Smith apples 
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp caster sugar

Cake
Oil or butter to grease the tins
4 large eggs, separated
165g almond meal
135g caster sugar, reserve 1 tbs
3tsp lemon juice

Optional
¼ cup flaked almonds
½ cup raspberry jam
1 cup whipped cream
1 teaspoon icing sugar
Fresh raspberries

Method
Peel, core and chop the apples roughly. Place the apples in a microwave proof bowl with the lemon juice and sugar and loosely cover. Microwave on high for 4 minutes or until you can mash the apple to a rough puree with a wooden spoon or fork. You can also stew the apples in a saucepan. (You should have about 143g /generous ½ cup of puree.) Leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and flour two 16cm sandwich tins with butter or oil and potato starch. Line the bases with baking paper. You can also bake this in a 17 cm spring-form tin.

Put the cooled puree into a large bowl. Blitz to a puree using a stick blender. Stir in the egg yolks, almond meal, caster sugar and 3 tsp of lemon juice to make a thick batter. Whip the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until the egg whites have formed stiff peaks. Add the remaining tablespoon of caster sugar and beat until combined. Gently fold the egg whites through the apple puree mixture.

Pour half the mixture into each of the prepared tins and bake for 35-40 minutes for the sandwich tins. If you’re making a single cake then sprinkle the flaked almonds over the top of the cake mixture and bake for 45 minutes. It's worth checking 5 minutes before the suggested time, as ovens do vary. Put the tins onto a wire rack to cool slightly before unmoulding.



When completely cool, remove the lining paper from the cakes and sandwich the cakes with whipped cream and jam. I decorated the top of the cake with a sprinkle of icing sugar, some whipped cream and fresh berries.  If you bake this as a single cake, sift some icing sugar over the top of the cake, just before serving.  

This was devoured so quickly I didn't have a chance to snaffle a piece but I was assured it was delicious.

See you all again tomorrow with the final day of Passover Week 2020.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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passover week 2020 - lemon drizzle friands

passover week 2020 - lemon drizzle friands

1 Apr 2020

Welcome to Day 3 of Passover Week 2020. Well you asked for a passover friand recipe and I delivered.



I did a little research and found many friand recipes that didn't include baking powder. I've only ever made friands with baking powder and it's essential to provide the spring you'll find in a regular friand. Matzo meal and potato flour also absorb more liquid than regular flour so I had to change the proportions in the friand batter quite a little and even then it was still thicker than a regular friand batter. 



I had lemons in the fruit bowl so decided to make a batch of lemon friands. For the first time ever, I found some legitimate kosher for Passover icing sugar so I decided to top the friands with lemon flavoured icing. The friands looked a little lonely without some form of topping so I made a small batch of candied lemon rind. Please don't feel you have to do this, a few strands of freshly grated lemon rind would do the trick. If you do make the lemon rind, it needs cooling and drying time so you may want to make this the day before. 



I wouldn't make these friands without the icing. I think the friands need it for an extra kick of lemon. I took these into work and labelled them 'sturdy lemon friands' because without baking powder they were more dense than a regular friand. I needn't have worried because they disappeared in the blink of an eye and every-one thought they were simply delicious.



Here’s the recipe for you. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20ºC.

Passover lemon friands - makes 12
Friands
125g unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for greasing the moulds
75g Passover baking mix (equal quantities superfine matzo meal and potato flour)
Pinch salt
130g almond meal
190g icing sugar, sifted
2 tsp grated lemon rind
180g egg whites or 6 egg whites, slightly whisked

To decorate
Lemon icing/candied lemon rind or grated lemon rind

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter 12 friand moulds or cupcake tins.

Sift the Passover baking mix and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the almond meal, the icing sugar and lemon rind and mix until combined. Stir in the butter and then sufficient egg white to form a loose batter. Spoon the mixture evenly into the moulds, filling them to about three-quarters full. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops of the cakes are golden brown. You may need to increase the temperature to 200°C for the last 5 minutes to ensure the friands colour nicely.

Leave the cakes to cool in their moulds before unmoulding onto a cooling rack. When completely cold, top with the lemon icing and decorate with some candied lemon rind if desired. They will keep in an airtight container for a few days.

Candied lemon rind
Finely shredded zest 1 lemon, no white pith
¼ cup caster sugar
¼ cup water
Extra caster sugar

Place the lemon rind in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 30 seconds, then drain.

Place the caster sugar and water into a small saucepan. Bring to the boil stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon rind and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the rind is translucent. Take the saucepan off the heat and allow the rind to cool in the syrup. 

When completely cool, drain the rind trough a sieve. Separate out the strands, roll in the extra caster sugar then allow to dry out on some baking paper. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Icing
½ cup icing sugar, sifted
25g melted unsalted butter
Juice ½ lemon

In a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients to form a runny icing. If it thickens you can add a little boiling water. Once the icing has set, the friands will keep for a few days stored in an airtight tin, if they last that long!



See you again tomorrow for Day 4 of Passover Week 2020.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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