MY LOVE COOKIE SANDWICH

Mother's Day. I really wanted to make something that paid tribute to not only the Mother's celebrating today, but also all those who no longer have their Mum's around, or who never got to meet their Mother, or who have lost or never got to meet their child. I know it's just a cookie, but (if you like), something simple can have so much significance. I call it my "Always in my heart, LOVE COOKIE SANDWICH", and it goes something like this.....

Make sugar cookie dough. Knead with love. Shape, cut and bake. Add chocolate. Insert sweet treats *here*. Decorate. Remember. Give. Enjoy. xx

HOW TO MAKE A LOVE COOKIE SANDWICH

1. Make a sugar cookie dough, here's the recipe I use:

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (225 grams) butter, room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) white sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough. Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.

2. Roll out dough and using 3 DIFFERENT SIZED heart shaped cookie cutters, cut out the following:

- 16 large hearts

- 8 medium hearts, with a smaller heart cut out of the centre (as shown)

3. Place onto two oven trays lined with non-stick baking paper, and bake for 6-8 minutes at 170 degrees celcius, or until just browned around the edges.

4. While you are waiting for them to cool, melt a handful of white chocolate melts - this is your glue, and works better than frosting.

5. Apply melted chocolate to the underside of the medium hearts and 'glue' each to the top of a large heart. It doesn't matter if you can see the chocolate, or if your cookies look a bit rugged like mine did!

6. Once the chocolate glue has dried (will take just a few minutes) fill the heart shaped cavity with sweets (or a little note!)

7. Carefully apply chocolate 'glue' to the top of the medium heart, taking care not to let chocolate drip into the centre.  It is better to apply the 'glue' more to the outside edge, as it doesn't matter if it drips down the outside (it will be covered up!).  Then put a large heart on top to make your 'sandwich'.

8. Decorate the tops of your cookies (I used Royal Icing, see recipe below), and using a piping back with a star nozzle, pipe buttercream in between the two cookie layers, concealing the inner cavity.

9. Present! Your recipient will have no idea of the delight hiding inside this cookie sandwich.  What a lovely surprise, and a beautiful way of saying 'always in my heart'.  

I made these for my Mum, Nana and Sister.  And myself and my biggest boy polished off the rest.  I think they are delightful, and of course can be made in any shape (as long as you have 3 different sized cookie cutters or other devices to achieve the same thing), and for any ocassion.

Christall xx

PS - Royal Icing recipe - 1 egg white, juice of 1 lemon, 1 1/2 cups icing sugar. Beat egg white and lemon until smooth, add icing sugar and beat until smooth and of 'flooding' consistency.  Add water or more icing sugar where necessary to achieve this. Pipe the edge of the heart, and 'flood' the heart with icing using a spoon.  This will take overnight, or at least 8 hours to harden, so that you can pipe the design over the top. For the coloured designs add another half or so cups of icing sugar until it is 'piping' consistency.  Add colour of your choice, and pipe using a fine nozzle.

Feijoa Fiesta - Part 1

I'm not particularly a fan of Autumn (don't like when it starts to get cold!)....BUT, I do love the wonderful 'fall harvest' - especially feijoa's!  Last year I bottled up quite a few jars of feijoa's, and managed to save them until summer time when they were PERFECT with ice cream.  This year I'm doing even more.  It's a real treat!  
So today I made this Feijoa & Ginger Cake with brown sugar glaze....it really is quite something.  Light, with a hint of that feijoa texture, and the warm 'bite' of ginger (completely optional of course, you can omit it - I just happen to love the stuff)

FEIJOA & GINGER CAKE 

Ingredients:

75 grams butter 1 cup mashed feijoas

10 small pieces crystallised ginger, chopped finely (optional) 2 eggs 1 cup brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla essence 1 tsp baking soda ½ cup milk (warmed) 1 tsp baking powder 2 cups flour 1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground ginger (optional)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius, grease and line a 20cm round cake tin (or similar)

In a large saucepan, melt the butter

Stir in the feijoa and crystallised ginger, sugar, and vanilla essence

Whisk in eggs

Warm the milk and add the baking soda.  Add to mixture

Sift the flour, spice, and baking powder into the wet ingredients and mix

Pour into a greased and baking paper-lined 20cm cake tin

Bake at 180°C for 50 minutes.

Brown sugar syrup:

4 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp mixed spice

2 Tablespoons milk

Simmer together in a pot until sugars are dissolved, drizzle over cooled cake

Drizzle with brown sugar syrup

Enjoy. YUM

Lemon & Rosemary Yoghurt Cake....easy peasy lemon squeezy

Lemons and Rosemary are rife in the garden at the moment, and what better combination for a deliciously moist cake - zesty lemon with a subtle, fresh, evergreen rosemary scent.  This is an adaptation of a recipe I was given by a work colleague quite a few years ago.  I have no idea where it has come from as it was a photocopy of a photocopy!  No butter, just oil (unless of course you top it with buttercream like I did!).

(Recipe below)

 LEMON & ROSEMARY YOGHURT CAKE

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup sugar
Rind of 2 lemons
2 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup yoghurt
2-3 Tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tsp fresh and finely chopped rosemary (optional)
2 cups self raising flour

Beat oil, eggs, sugar and lemon rind well, and then add the remaining ingredients.
Pour mixture into greased and lined 24cm spring form cake tin.
Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool for about 10 minutes before turning out carefully onto a rack.

Can be sprinkled with icing sugar, or, when completely cool, smothered in lemon butter cream frosting (mmmmm)

ENJOY! x

MINI COOKIES IN A JAR

Something super cute - "mini" cookies in a jar!  These would make the sweetest wedding favours.  A swing tag was just a bit too large to hang off the side of the wee jelly jar, so I wrote the instructions in these paper scrolls and tied them to the jar.

Layer the following into a quilted jelly jar (or a regular jam jar) - it needs to be packed down quite firmly:
1/2 a cup of flour, 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder, 1/8 cup of white sugar (all mixed together)
1/8th of a cup of brown sugar
1/2 a cup of chocolate chips

Cover lid with pretty fabric or paper if desired, bind with twine and tie on a tag or scroll with the following directions:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees celcius.
Empty contents of jar into bowl.
Melt 50grams of butter, beat one egg, and add to dry mix.
Drop tablespoons of mixture onto oven tray.
Bake for 6-7 minutes.


They are deliciously chewy and buttery, mmmmmm

Enjoy!