Tonight's dinner - Potato gratin and Heston Blumenthal's roast chicken

I like using the oven to cook dinner. It is so easy and all I need to do is to prepare the food and pop them into the oven.

 

Potato Gratin from Taste.com.au

• 3 medium potatoes 
• 1 onion                            
• garlic, thinly sliced                            
• salt and cracked black pepper                            
• 1 cup cream
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan or swiss cheese  

Directions   

Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease four 1-cup capacity ramekins. Thinly slice potatoes and onion. Arrange some of the potato over the base of each ramekin and top with a little onion. Sprinkle with a few slices of garlic and season with salt and cracked black pepper. Continue layering with the remaining potato and onion, adding garlic every second or third layer. Combine cream with cheese. Pour into the ramekins then bake for 45 minutes or until potato is cooked through and top is golden. Stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Heston Blumenthal's roast chicken

Ingredients

• 1.5–2 kg whole chicken
• 6 % brine (300 g salt dissolved in 5 litres water)
• 1 lemon
• 1 bunch thyme
• 125 g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for rubbing into the skin
• 30 ml dry white wine

For the gravy (optional)

• 20 ml dry white wine
• 250 ml (1 cup) chicken stock
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 sprig tarragon
• 1 sprig parsley

Instructions

Resting time 45 minutes
Brining time overnight
Warning In this recipe, while Heston cooks his chicken to an internal temperature of 60°C, if you want to stick to safety guidelines your chicken should reach 75°C in the thickest part of the breast.

Remove the trussing from the chicken then place it in a clean container. Pour over the brine, ensuring that the chicken is submerged, then cover the container with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
Remove the chicken from the liquid and dry well with paper towel. Remove the wishbone and place on a wire rack set over a tray.
Preheat the oven to 90ºC (about 70°C fan or gas mark ¼, but use an oven thermometer to get an accurate temperature).
Roll and pierce the lemon, then place it in the cavity of the bird with half of the thyme. Rub some butter on top of the skin.
Place the chicken on the rack in a roasting tray and place in the oven. Roast the chicken for about 3–4 hours or until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the breast is 60ºC.
Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to rest for 45 minutes. Turn the oven temperature as high as it will go.
In the meantime, melt the butter in a pan and add the wine and a few sprigs of thyme. Bring to the boil then remove the pan from the heat and use the melted butter to baste the chicken before and during browning.
Once the resting time has elapsed, put the chicken back in the roasting tray and return it to the oven for about 10 minutes or until golden brown, taking care that it doesn’t burn.
Once coloured, remove the chicken from the oven and place on a cooling rack.
To carve the chicken, remove the legs by slicing down where they meet the breast and splaying them outwards to expose the joint, which you can then sever.
Remove the breast by running a sharp knife deeply into the flesh along one side of the centre bone that extends the length of the bird, making a deep vertical cut. Then cut horizontally through the flesh at the bottom of the breast until the horizontal cut meets the vertical, separating the breast from the ribcage. Repeat the procedure on the other side of the centre bone. The breasts can then be laid cut-side down on the chopping board and sliced.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
If making the gravy, when the chicken has been browned and removed from the roasting tray, place the tray containing the juices on the cooktop over medium-high heat. Add the white wine and scrape and stir to deglaze the pan. Add the chicken stock and cook until reduced to a sauce. Strain into a small saucepan.
Before serving, stir in the mustard and warm through. Finish with freshly chopped tarragon and parsley and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Tonight's dinner - Roasted garlic and rocket chicken with Cauliflower Gratin

My favourite dinner combo for my family. It is simple and easy to prepare and it tastes great!

Cauliflower Gratin by Martha Stewart

Ingredients 

• 1 large head cauliflower, cored and cut into florets
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions   

Preheat oven to 400 degrees(204c). In a large bowl, combine cauliflower, heavy cream, flour, and 3/4 cup grated Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Transfer mixture to a 2-quart baking dish, cover tightly with foil, and bake 30 minutes. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup grated Parmesan and breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over cauliflower. Dot with butter and bake, uncovered, until topping is golden brown and cauliflower is tender when pierced with a knife, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Roasted garlic and rocket chicken by Donna Hay

• 3 small heads garlic, cloves separated
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• sea salt and cracked black pepper
• 1 x 1.6kg whole chicken, butterflied (see cook’s tip, below)

rocket dressing

• 1 cup baby rocket (arugula) leaves, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Place the garlic on a baking tray, drizzle with half the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on top of the garlic and rub with the remaining oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 1 hour. Move the garlic from under the chicken to the edge of the tray and roast for a further 30 minutes, or until the chicken is golden and the garlic is tender. While the chicken is cooking, make the rocket dressing. Place the rocket, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix to combine. Serve the chicken with the roasted garlic and rocket dressing. Serves 4.

cook’s tip: Butterflying a chicken allows it to cook faster and more evenly. To butterfly and flatten a chicken, position the chicken, breast-side down, on a board so the back is facing up and the drumsticks are facing towards you. Using sharp kitchen scissors or chicken shears, cut closely along either side of the backbone, remove the bone and discard. Turn the chicken, breast-side up, and press down firmly on the breastbone to flatten the chicken. Tuck the wings under the chicken before roasting.

Sebastian's Dinasour birthday party

Sebastian is turning 3 this April and this year party theme is Dinosaur. I have booked a Dinosaur room in an indoor play centre and I think Sebastian and his friends are going to have so much fun!


Most of the food is prepared by the centre and I am planning to make a Dinosaur "inspired" cake and cupcakes. For the cake, I am planning to make a Volcano cake.  I found this Volcano cake from Cupcakes Addiction and I thought it looks easy enough for me to make it.(Just some information about myself, I am pretty clueless in baking) Cupcakes Addiction used mud cakes for the Volcano and I found this Mudcake recipe from thrumykitchenwindow. The mud cake looks amazing and I am going to try this out. Finger-crossed, this cake is going to be amazing. (If everything works out!)

The Very Best Chocolate Mud Cake (adapted from Family Circle)

250gm butter
250gm dark cooking chocolate
2tbsp instant espresso coffee powder or granules
150gm self-raising flour
150gm plain flour
60gm cocoa powder
1/2tsp bicarb soda
550gm caster sugar
4 eggs
2tbsp vegetable oil or light olive oil
125ml milk

Chocolate Ganache

150gm dark cooking chocolate
60gm melted unsalted butter

Grease a deep 23cm round cake tin. Line the base and sides with baking paper, making sure the paper extends well above the top of the tin.

Dissolve the coffee in 185mls hot water. Put the butter, sugar, chocolate and dissolved coffee and water in a pan. Stir over a low heat until smooth, completely melted and well incorporated. Set aside.

Sift the flours, cocoa and bicarb of soda into a large bowl. Sift a couple of times. Make a well in the centre.

Add the combined eggs, oil and milk; using a large spoon or spatula mix well into the dry ingredients. Add  half the cooled melted chocolate mixture; stir well till there are no lumps.  Add the remaining half; make sure the mixture is well combined.  It should be of a pourable consistency.

Pour the mixture into the carefully lined cake tin. Place into a preheated oven set at 130 - 150degrees celcius. No higher.  I feel the mud cake requires baking a bit like a christmas cake;  long, slow and low heat. Bake for approx 1 3/4 hours. It is not unusual for the top of the cake to develop a crust or for the centre to be slightly sunken. Place the cake on a rack; leave in tin until completely cold. Once cold; cover securely with a tea towel.  Leave overnight.

Turn cake out, remove all of the lining. Examine the cake. You want a level cake when it comes to decorating; therefore if it is not even it may be necessary to slice off some of the crusty bits until it is level with the centre of the cake. Sometimes the cake may have a slight rise. In this instance simply cut off the risen bit in the centre. Sometimes you won't have to do a thing.

Once you have achieved a flat, top surface, turn the cake upside down. It is wise to do this on the serving plate with some cutouts of baking paper around the edges and under the cake. This alleviates any messiness and once the icing becomes firm, the baking paper can be removed leaving your cake looking immaculately decorated.

In a small glass bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate. Do not overheat. In another bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. Once again, do not overheat or 'sizzle' the butter; just till almost melted. Pour this into the melted chocolate and slowly incorporate the two together. Stir until well combined and you have achieved a nice glossy, pouring chocolate.

Pour ganache onto the centre of the cake. Using a spatula or a knife, spread the ganache all over the cake. If the weather is hot or humid you can take a little more time to get it right. If the weather is cold you may have to work more quickly as the chocolate ganache may begin to harden.

Allow the topping to set at room temperature. If at any time you place it in the fridge you will lose the glossy shine. It won't affect the taste, it just won't look as silky smooth.

This cake keeps moist easily for about two weeks.


Chocolate Ganache by Cupcakes Addiction


Dark Chocolate Ganache:

• 600g / 21oz Dark chocolate
• 300ml/g / 10.5oz whipping cream (35% milk fat)

Milk Chocolate Ganache:

• 650g / 23oz Milk Chocolate
• 300ml/g / 10.5oz whipping cream (35% milk fat)

White Chocolate Ganache Recipe:

• 700g / 25oz White Chocolate
• 300ml/g / 10.5oz whipping cream (35% milk fat)

Method:
I prefer the microwave method because I'm impatient and have a habit of walking away from stovetops and letting the chocolate burn or the cream boil over... Thats just me, but here are your two methods for making ganache:
#1: Microwave

1. Combine chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl
2. Microwave on high for 1 minute interval, stirring for 2 minutes in between
3. This should take 2-3 minutes max
4. Stir until there are no lumps

#2: Stovetop

1. Bring your cream to a rolling boil (this just means a boil with bubble all over the surface, to just around the outside edges.
2. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate to the saucepan
3. Stir until there are no lumps

Tips:

• Cover your ganache with plastic wrap and make sure the wrap touches the surface of the chocolate
• Watch the video to see how to achieve the perfect pouring, whipped and spreadable consistencies for your ganache
• Try to at least frost your cake before you commence eating the ganache straight from the bowl
• Don't be afraid to dip marshmallows and strawberries into freshly warmed ganache - its delicious
• 1 heaped tablespoon of room temp ganache folded into 1 cup of whipped cream makes and amazing chocolate mousse

DIY Sebastian's invitation card
I love making my own invitation card. There are a lot of free invitation card templates available online.

Edible Glaze Molding glaze recipe

I am so excited! Finally found the edible glaze moulding clay. At last I can start preparing the baby showers cake decoration using these edible clay and my newly bought silicon moulds. I found this recipe from CookieCrazie

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

2 pounds powdered (confectioners) sugar

3/4 cup corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon water

Instructions

Using the paddle tool of a stand mixer, soften the butter on low speed.

Add the remaining ingredients.

Starting with low speed, and eventually increasing speed, mix the ingredients into a grainy "dough". 

Remove the clay from the bowl and place on a silicon mat or parchment paper.

Knead the "dough" by hand to achieve a smooth clay texture.

Note: To create different colors, add food color gel and knead it into the dough evenly.

If lots of gel is required for desired color, add additional powdered sugar to firm up the clay.

Refrigerate unused clay for future decorating.

Once the desired texture and color is achieved, press the clay firmly into a silicone mold

being certain all the nooks and crannies are filled.

Use a knife to cut off the excess above the mold rim. (see photo below)

Freeze the mold for a minimum of 10 minutes.

(The longer it freezes, the better the shape is retained.)

Push the frozen clay out of the mold carefully. 

Either add it immediately to a cookie covered in dried icing

or allow it to dry and harden a bit before topping a cookie.

(The latter will require a bit of wet icing to "glue" the clay to the cookie.) 

The newly molded clay needs to dry out and harden at least overnight 

to prevent it from being easily misshaped. 

After this, the clay is still somewhat pliable (which definitely makes it more palatable)......

but it can be packaged without damaging the shape.

Certain thicker molds may not handle heavy cookies being stacked on top.

Perfect Vanilla Cupcake Recipe by Natasha's Kitchen

I love trying out new recipe and if my mum loves it, the recipe is going to my blog. I made these yesterday and she loved it! I copied this recipe from Natasha's Kitchen


Ingredients for Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup canola oil (vegetable or extra light olive oil also work)
1/2 cup buttermilk or (According to Glorious Treats, you can substitute the buttermilk with 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice- add acid to the milk then set aside for 5 minutes before using)


Cake Flour Ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour, minus 2 Tbsp
2 Tbsp corn starch
Note: If your recipe calls for more cake flour, increase the ingredients proportionally; i.e. 2 cups flour (minus 4 Tbsp flour) with 4 Tbsp corn starch, etc.


How to Make the Best Vanilla Cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 °F and line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake liners.
 In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 1/4 cups cake flour (or Canadian flour), 1 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. Set flour mix aside.


In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat 2 eggs with the whisk attachment on medium speed (15-20 seconds). Add 3/4 cup sugar and continue to beat on medium speed (30 seconds).Add vanilla and oil and beat on medium speed (1 minute).Reduce mixer speed to medium/low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture. Add half of the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour mix and the rest of the milk. Beat until just combined and smooth, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl. The batter should be thin. Pour batter into a lined muffin pan. Fill to about 1/2 full.Bake for 12 -14 minutes at 350 °F (176.667'c).


Cupcake Frosting Recipe
Ingredients

• 1 (8 oz/226.796gms) pkg cream cheese, at room temp
• 1.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1.5 cups cold heavy whipping cream
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Cooks Tip: For best results with whipped cream, freeze your mixing bowl and whisk attachment 10-15 minutes before using. Also keep the heavy whipping cream refrigerated until ready to use.

1. Whip the cream on high speed (1-2 minutes) until fluffy.
2. In a second mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar (start on low speed unless you want to be standing in a cloud of powdered sugar), then beat in ½ tsp vanilla extract
3. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mix. Keep it covered in the fridge until ready to use on these cupcakes.

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Gingerbread Cupcakes

I love Christmas and it is the only time I can give myself an excuse to get fat. I love cakes, cupcakes and cookies. I can't wait to make this gingerbread cupcake from bakedbyrachel. These moist gingerbread cupcakes with brown sugar cinnamon cream cheese frosting are the best. Can't wait to share these cupcakes with the rest of my family and friends.

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• 1/4C unsalted butter, softened (55gm)
• 1/2C light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp all spice
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• Pinch of cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4C all purpose flour
• 1/4C sour cream or yogurt
• 2Tb hot water

Frosting:

• 171 grams cream cheese, softened
• 1/4C unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4C brown sugar
• 3C powdered sugar, sifted
• Gingerbread cookies, for decoration

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pan with 7 paper liners. 
2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter and brown sugar. Mix in egg and vanilla, beating until smooth. Scrape bowl as needed. Add spices, salt and baking powder, mixing until just dispersed. With mixer on low, alternate additions of flour and yogurt, finishing with 2 tablespoons of hot water. Continue mixing until no streaks remain. 
3. Divide batter between prepared paper liners, using a large cookie scoop.
4. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan until easy to handle, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 
5. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in vanilla, cinnamon and brown sugar until just combined. Add powdered sugar in small batches, mixing well between additions. Transfer frosting to a large piping bag fit with a piping tip. Pipe as desired. Alternately a gallon storage bag may be used with the corner snipped off. Decorate with a small gingerbread cookie.

Simple Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I have been looking for a simple carrot cupcake recipe for my little Sebastian and I stumble into this recipe from pinchofyum. It is absolutely perfect, simple ingredients and easy to make.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

• 1 cup flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1½ cups grated carrots (heaping)
• ⅔ cup oil
• 2 eggs, beaten

For the frosting

• 114 grams cream cheese
• 57 grams butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the grated carrots and the oil. Slowly add the flour mixture, stirring until just mixed. Add the beaten eggs and stir a few times (like 15 or less around the bowl - the fewer the better)!
2. Grease a muffin tin or use paper liners. Scoop the batter into a muffin tin, filling each muffin tin about ⅔ of the way up the side. Bake for 13 minutes, check how they're doing, and add a few minutes if necessary. I find that the baking time varies greatly with oven, so just check for the right golden brown colour and springy tops. Allow the cupcakes to cool.
3. For the frosting, blend the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. Transfer to a plastic bag or similar tool for piping the frosting evenly on the cupcakes.