Preheat oven to 150C (300F), roast the hazelnuts on a pan for 10-15 minutes.
Rub the skins off with a damp tea towel, repeat this process until the hazelnuts are skinned and golden in color.
The tougher to skin ones I find will come right off after you let it cool off, then just rub between your fingers.
Chop them coarsely into sort of 1/4’s irregular pieces. They do not need to be neat, it gives more texture that way but avoid having too many full nuts as it would be hard to fill cookies.
Over medium-high heat, cook the sugar and water in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan without stirring.
Once the sugar dissolves and mixture turns a dark amber color, add the cream. * Be careful as the mixture will bubble and spit a little.
Swirl and stir it until it subsides, about 30 seconds – remove from heat.
Stir in the butter & salt, then the chopped hazelnuts till combined.
Allow to cool completely and check if it is almost firm but barely pliable. This is the correct level of cooking for the caramel.
Spoon mixture whilst lukewarm onto one inner side of cookie, then sandwich another over the top. About the thickness of the cookie or less is good.
The more you add the richer it is and messier it may get – and you want the flavour to be balanced.
SOFT, VANILLA COOKIES Ingredients:
113g (1/2 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
100g (1/2 Cup) White/Granulated Sugar
1 Large Egg, Room Temp
1 + 1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
156g (1 + 1/4 Cups) Plain/All-Purpose Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/8 Teaspoon Salt
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
Grease & line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
Whisk together the dry ingredients until combined.
Cream butter and sugar till fluffy and pale.
Beat in the vanilla & egg.
Scrape down base and sides and beat in flour mix just till combined.
Take 1 teaspoon or so of dough and roll into a ball.
Leave 2″ between every cookie and bake for 12 minutes until set and lightly golden around edges. These are very soft, if you prefer a bit more crisp then bake for few more minutes till more colored.
Cool completely before filling with nut-caramel.
To apply filling, simply warm the caramel if it is set just until it is soft and pliable.
Spoon as much as you like and place it onto one side of the cookie, use greased finger to smooth it out till it is just within the edge.
Lightly press the other biscuit of the pair on top. They caramel can ooze a little if it is still too warm so have a bit of room for that.
Beat butter and sugar on high till pale and creamy.
Scrape down the bowl, beat in vanilla and salt.
Mix in flour on medium-low speed just till combined.
Bring dough together into a ball, cover and chill for 30-60 minutes until it is firm.
Roll tablespoons of dough into a ball.
Place on baking paper-lined large baking tray and press down each ball with a your thumb to make an indent at the centre. Use index finger and thumb to start shaping the sides neatly whilst also pressing the indent down to make a neat cookie with an indent about 1cm in height. This should fix any cracks too.
The idea is to make it deep but not too wide.
Fill with cheesecake filling just a little under the brim to leave room for the macerated berries.
Bake for 20 minutes at 160C (325F) or until golden and puffy on middle rack of oven.
Cool for 5 minutes before transferring onto cooling rack.
Cookies can be stored airtight at room temperature for couple of days. Otherwise store in fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.
MACERATED BLUEBERRIES Ingredients:
125g (1 Punnet) Fresh Blueberries
113g (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar
1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
METHOD:
Combine all ingredients except maple syrup in a bowl or airtight container.
Let stand for 15 minutes before giving it another stir to mix evenly.
The sugar should mostly be dissolved and drawn out the berries liquid after an hour or so.
Stir in the maple syrup.
Macerate for at least a day or overnight. Two days should be fine for a thick-skinned berry like this, but keep an eye on the condition. Do not go for too many days as the berry can also break down too much.
You can store in the fridge after the first day.
Strain out the berries to bake into cheesecake filling or serve on top of baked cookies.
Keep chilled in airtight container until serving. Good at room temperature or cold.
CHEESECAKE FILLING Ingredients
115g (4 Oz) Cream Cheese, Room Temp
84g (Heaped 1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
1 Large Egg Yolk
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Salt
METHOD:
Beat cream cheese till smooth and lump free, scraping down base and sides of bowl halfway.
Beat together with rest of the ingredients till smooth & creamy.
50g (4 Tablespoons) Caster Sugar (depends on how sweet your fruits are)
1 Large Lime Juice
2 Teaspoons Cornstarch
Red Food Coloring, Optional
METHOD:
Place ingredients into a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until the mixture starts to boil.
Puree in a processor.Return to pot over heat. Stir frequently and cook a few more minutes or until it thickens, roughly 5 minutes.
Add food coloring if using and stir until a red ketchup/tomato sauce look is achieved.
Transfer and strain into a heatproof container. Let cool to room temperature then store in the refrigerator with cling wrap pressed directly over the surface of the curd.
If the curd sets too thick or not smooth enough you can add it to a processor and process once more before using. You want some thickness to resemble sauce or relish.
STUFFED-CRUST PIZZA COOKIE Ingredients:
168g (3/4 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp.
150g (3/4 Cup) Dark Brown Sugar
57g (1/4 Cup) Caster Sugar
1 Large Egg
1 Large Egg Yolk
1 Egg Whites For Glazing
1 + 1/2 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
280g (2 + 1/4 Cup) Plain/All-Purpose Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Salt
Frozen Raspberries, As Needed
Handful of Mini Chocolate Chips
Chocolate Halva, Handful (Optional)
Fresh Mint Leaves, Coarsely Chopped
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180C (350F), spray a 9″ cake pan or pie dish with non-grease vegetable spray.
Cream together butter and sugars with paddle attachment until smooth and creamy.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the salt and flour before gently beating it into the butter mix.
Do not over mix, beat just until it comes together.
Set aside 1/3 of the cookie dough for the stuffed crust.
Press the remaining dough into the pan until smooth and level.
A few mm in from the edges, put in chocolate chips and frozen raspberries all the way around.
Take a little of the dough at a time, flatten it with finger tips into a long strip and start placing it over the berries and chocolate to cover them.
Neaten it up making sure it looks neat and no parts are too thin that the filling might leak or break through (You can pinch some dough from the base if need to, then smooth it back out).
Bake for 35-40 minutes until cookie is nicely golden brown, shape
return to oven for 10-15 minutes to dry out and cook out base.
Lightly brush non-crust part with egg whites & return to oven just till whites are dried out. This prevents the filling from making cookies too soggy.
COCONUT SAUCE Ingredients:
75g (1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
2 Large Egg Yolks
270g (1 Can) Coconut cream
2 Tablespoons Coconut milk
1 Tablespoon Corn Flour
Pinch of Salt
METHOD:
Whisk egg yolk and sugar in stand mixer till pale and fluffy on medium speed.
Scrape down the bowl half way.
In the meantime, heat coconut cream and milk in saucepan over low heat just until it becomes steamy.
Remove from heat.
Whisk flours into egg mixture till combined, scraping down halfway.
Gradually pour the hot mix into the egg mix whilst whisking on low speed.
Return to the pot and heat on medium low, whisking often until thickened. Takes about 5-10 minutes.
Chill till at least lukewarm before spreading over the raspberry sauce layer in splotches of varying sizes like cheese.
Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Grease a large baking pan with non-stick vegetable oil spray, then line with baking paper.
Combine honey, very soft butter and vanilla in processor whilst gradually pouring in the whites. Or beat together the ingredients till combined with a mixer with paddle attachment, then gradually pour in the egg whites till combined.
In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Add raisins and add the butter mixture to combine.
Place dough onto the pan spread into a log shape, then define the log shape on lined baking tray with damp hands. They should be really only about same width as your hands – the wider the log is the longer your slices of biscotti will be in the end.
Bake for 40-50 minutes until nicely golden & just cooked through. Test with a knife to see if it is still sticky in the centre as it can be hard to gage.
Remove from oven, cool completely, chill till solid – 20-30 minutes.
Slice into half cm slices with a chef knife in a rocking motion, back and forth as you gradually push down.
Lay them down on a baking tray without touching each other – they will not spread much anymore but will still stick when baked touching.
Bake until golden on both sides and just crisp when snapped in half. It should have a very subtle give right in the middle when pressed as it will firm up as it cools.
312g (2 + 1/2 Cups) Cups Plain/All-Purpose or Almond/Hazelnut Meal
2 Tablespoons Milk
METHOD:
For chai infused butter, take the 225g butter, gently melt on low heat in a pot.
Add the loose leaf chai and steep on barely simmering heat for 5 minutes.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then immediately strain into a cling wrap lined container or bowl, pressing out as much butter as you can from the leaves.
Leave to chill or set at room temperature.
Once set, weigh the butter and add more butter to have total amount of 225g butter.
Combine butter and sugar in a bowl and beat till very pale and fluffy, creamy and smooth.
Beat in the vanilla, salt, flour or meal, then the milk.
Switch to high speed and beat for about 2 minutes till the mix is fluffy.
Line a 30 x 22cm (11 x 8.5″) tray with baking paper and spread the cookie dough mixture as smoothly and evenly all over the tray.
Freeze or chill the dough until solid before assembling.
MARBLED SUGAR COOKIE Ingredients:
113g (1/2 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
113g (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar
1 Large Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
250g (2 Cups) Plain/All-Purpose Flour
Blue Gel Food Colouring
METHOD:
Beat together butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.
Beat in egg, vanilla and salt with baking powder just till combined.
Scrape down the sides and base.
Gradually beat in flour on low speed until a dough is made with no streaks.
Set aside 2/3 of the dough, and stir blue colouring into the remaining 1/3 till uniform in colour.
Portion and roll into golf ball sized balls, leaving a tennis ball sized portion of the white dough for profile cookies. Lay on working surface lined with cling wrap, alternate colours of regular dough and blue tinted dough forming a rectangle or triangle shape to your like (doesn’t matter much) then knead it lightly to swirl the colour, do not over mix it.
Flatten into a disc shape and cling wrap, chill for 30-60 minutes. Do the same with the remaining white dough.
Preheat oven to 180C (350F), line a large tray.
On a lightly floured surface, place the dough & lightly flour the top.
Roll out dough to 3mm thick or so, turning often to prevent sticking and ensure even rolling.
Use a straight edged chopping board or something similar to guide the knife and slice 5cm wide (2″) bars.
Cut into irregular triangle time slit shapes, but remember to pair each triangle for the top and bottom of each sandwich cookie. You can use the first one to lay on top and trace over as a guide, or as many varied sizes or shapes as you like with a similar method.
Transfer triangles onto a large baking tray lined with baking paper. They don’t need to be too far apart, they do not spread much. Keep chilled till needed.
Remove chilled white dough and in the same manner roll out till the same thickness.
Lay character cut-outs over the dough to cut out oxenfree character outlines. Use a sharp knife and trace them out – the colder and firmer your dough the easier this is. Soft dough will tear easily.
*** I have included down below my illustrations for you to use for the profile outlines, you can adjust the size and print them out for your own use.
Trick is to cut away as many chunks around the character so you can get into the smaller sections. Use the sides of the knife to smooth the side of each profile.
Brush triangle with water and lay the character cut-outs on one of each triangle pairing gently.
You can make polar bear cookies by keeping them white and use cookie cutter to cut them.
Freeze for 20 minutes.
Remaining dough can be re-rolled then chilled for more cookie cutting.
In a preheated oven at 180C (350F), the mini bear cookies I had took 12-14 minutes, whilst profile cookies take 15-17. Try not to brown them or they’ll lose the aesthetics.
Cool completely before assembling.
To assemble, take the bottom pair of the cookies and place on top of the chilled cookie dough and simply trace with a sharp knife. Gently ease with knife the dough off the paper and flip it upright. Place the profile cookie on top to match each pair, then let it sit till room temperature so the butter sticks the cookie together.
For bears, just use same cookie cutter for filling. If you have a cookie stamp for the bear, it can be used after baking for better definition as this cookie is very soft but doesn’t break so easily.
Keep cookies airtight and chilled for storage, serve cold for best texture or cookie dough goes soft very quickly.
Fold foil into a deep tray that fits measurement of half the tray of cookies.
Butter or grease baking paper, line the foil square with the greased baking paper. Place on a tray for stability so the caramel doesn’t spill.
Mix all ingredients in a large microwave safe bowl as the mixture will bubble up plenty and will need ample room to prevent spillage.
Cover 3/4 of the way the top of the bowl with cling wrap.
Microwave on high for 6-7 minutes, stirring every 90 seconds. About 4-5 times.
You’re looking for the first time it bubbles up, then you’ll need one more round after that.
Pour into a small buttered dish and allow to cool completely.
Allow to chill and set in fridge until solid.
Store Chilled if not using right away.
GINGERBREAD IMPRINT COOKIES Ingredients:
675g (4 + 1/2 Cups) Plain/All-Purpose Flour
1 Tablespoon Ground Ginger
1 Tablespoon Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder
1 + 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
180g (3/4 Cup) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp.
165g (3/4 Cup) Dark Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
1 Large Egg, Lightly Beaten
340g (1 Cup) Unsulphured Molasses
METHOD:
In a medium bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.
With a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
Scrape down the sides & beat in the beaten egg until well combined.
Spray or lightly grease the container to measure the molasses and gradually add it to the mixer whilst slowly mixing.
Once smoothly combined, scrape down the sides again, add in the dry mix in two parts.
The mix will be a bit crumbly once the flour is almost incorporated. Tip out of the bowl and gently knead it until it becomes smooth. It will come together so just be patient and gentle with it.
Divide the dough in two & press into a lined large baking tray each. To smooth out place another baking paper on top once as evenly pressed in as possible, and roll the rolling pin over gently until smooth.
Use a ruler to measure and divide the tray of cookie into two halves & press the cookie imprints firmly on top for just one side. These will be the top half of the sandwich cookies. Repeat with other tray/s until dough is used up. You may need to lightly coat the cookie print with some flour to prevent sticking.
Measure and cut the cookies into individual cookie pieces, this will make it easier to cut after it is baked.
**You could also just leave them plain, or do plain imprint cookies decorated with white chocolate or royal icing piping 🙂
Cover & freeze the dough for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Bake cookies for 15-20 minutes or so rotating tray halfway, just until they begin to colour.
Whilst still hot, press the imprints again if need to get a deeper impression as the cookies do puff a little. Then use a sharp knife to cut the cookies into individual squares following the cuts made earlier.
Cool on a wire rack completely before removing the printed (top half) cookie squares.
Unwrap the chilled soft caramel slab & lay on the plain cookie squares still as a big rectangle.
Line the printed top half cookie squares over the caramel, reassembling them back into the other half rectangle shape of the tray. You will end up with a giant cookie sandwich in which you can use a greased knife to cut them into the individual square portions according to the cuts.
Keep airtight and chilled when not serving and bring to room temperature before serving for softer cookies.
Best frozen before any transportation & wrapped only with baking paper or similar material that do not stick to the caramel.
Here are a few things worth noting about this recipe:
It is important to note that the salted caramel can be fairly chewy & firm if cooked for too long. If it’s too firm it will be hard to cut as a slice when the cake is complete, so make sure when you add the cream, it is room temperature and do not cook anymore unless some parts do not melt from whisking. In that case use very gentle heat just enough to melt the caramel smoothly. Additionally once it cools down, if it seems too firm you could warm a bit of cream and stir it into the caramel, nuking it in the microwave very gently on small intervals and whisking well in between just until smooth. The additional cream should help the caramel become more watered down and keep it from setting too solid – much like the logics behind ganache.
For the oreo cookie sheets, make sure the cookie is fine as if there are big chunks when you try to cut it into triangles it will break on the chunks. Alternatively you could skimp out and just cut ready made cookies into triangles 🙂
CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING Ingredients:
85g (6 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter
200g (1 + 1/8 Cups) Semi Sweet Chocolate
3/4 Teaspoon Vanilla
340g (3/4 lb) Pure Icing Sugar, Sifted
63ml (1/4 Cup) Milk
METHOD:
In a microwave safe bowl, nuke the butter and chocolate on 30 second intervals, stirring in between.
Once smoothly combined, add vanilla and gradually the sifted icing sugar mixing on low in a mixer until combined. Increase the speed to high & beat until desired fluffiness.
Add milk as necessary to smooth out the texture. Some more liquid makes it more silky, but will also let down the mixture so be mindful of that.
SALTED CARAMEL Ingredients:
150g (2/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
50ml (4 Tablespoons) Water
60g (1/4 Cup) Thickened Cream
35g (2 + 1/2 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter
1/2 + 1/8 Tsp Salt or to tasteMETHOD:
Over medium-high heat, cook the sugar and water in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan without stirring.
Once the sugar dissolves and mixture turns a caramel color, remove the pan from heat and add the cream. * Be careful as the mixture will bubble and spit a little.
Allow to cool completely.
If the consistency is too firm to spread over the cake warming it and mixing with additional warmed cream until smooth will help. When I made mine I cooked for two more minutes after adding the cream and it made mine more like a very soft, moldable candy when warmed. It offers a nice chewy texture but is a bit hard to cut unless at room temperature with a very sharp knife. So its up to personal preference as a friend really loved the chewy texture, but it was hard too eat out of the fridge, not much of an issue when left out covered.
It was also much easier to assemble with a firm caramel, but that’s just me being a bit lazy.
OREO COOKIE SHEET Ingredients:
25 White/black Oreo Cookies, Finely Crushed
70g (5 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter, melted
METHOD:
Add 25 regular sized oreo (flavour of choice) and melted butter into the processor. If you don’t have a processor you can try doing this by crushing in a ziplock bag, just make sure it is very fine and uniform in texture.
Process until completely smooth and uniformly damp. The crumbs should be very fine.
In a lined square tin measuring 20cm (8″) empty the cookie crumbs and compact it. Keep it as level as possible and very firmly pressed together.
Use a sharp knife, mark 16 triangles lightly. Do this by dividing the square into two rectangles, then make a cross to have four squares. Each square can then be diagonally cut twice to give 4 mini triangles.
Freeze well until solid, lift the cookie sheet out by the baking paper and using a serrated knife to gently and slowly saw the triangles free.
Keep well frozen until garnishing.
CHOCOLATE CAKE Ingredients
135g (1/3 + 1/4 Cups) Plain Flour
155ml (5 fl Oz) Buttermilk
2 Large Eggs, Room Temp
60g (1/2 Cup) Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder
100g (1/2 Cup) Dark Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
110g (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar
125ml (1/2 Cup) Boiling Water
70g (5 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
1/2 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
3/4 Teaspoons Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Line a 24 x 35cm (9 x 14″) baking tray.
Grease and flour 2 x 9 inch cake pans.
Add cocoa powder to hot water, whisk well and set aside.
Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy in a mixer.
Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated between each.
Add vanilla and cocoa mix to cake batter till combined.
On low, gradually alternate between flour and buttermilk 3 turns, starting and ending with flour.
Do not overmix, fold in the last pockets of flour by hand. Spread batter over baking pan till even.
Tap tray on counter to remove air bubbles.
Bake for 35 minutes till moist crumbs cling onto skewer when inserted.
Allow to cool.
Use a 10cm (3″) cookie cutter ring to cut out 6 cakes, stack them on a plate with baking paper between each layer for easier handling, preventing sticking.
ASSEMBLING:
Start by taking each cake and levelling it with a serrated knife very gently. Use a back and forth sawing action whilst slowly turning the cake.
Place first layer of cake on serving plate. A flat surface is much easier to work with if you want to use a cake scraper.
Warm the caramel a little, and bring the fudge frosting to room temperature (or nuke very quickly in microwave, giving it a good stir.)
Divide the caramel by half, and spread over the first, then second layer of sponge once the first one is done. Leave a mm room space around edge just so the weight of the sponge on top won’t push the caramel too far out.
Place the final layer of sponge on top, check from top and sides to ensure it is straight and level, then gently press down to stick the layers together.
For the crumb coat, use an offset palette knife to place a thin layer of frosting to cover the cake all over, smoothing it so that it is neat and almost smooth.
Chill the cake till the frosting is dry to the touch, then mound a large amount of frosting on top of the cake, spread towards the sides, build up the sides with more frosting.
Don’t worry about too much frosting as you will be smoothing down the top and sides, and scraping off a large amount of excess on the edge of the frosting bowl. Try to get the sides very straight and almost completely smooth, then bring the edges in from the top as level as possible to keep it a straight finish. Repeat gently around the top.
You can dip the knife in hot water, wipe it dry and then use that to partially melt and smooth out imperfections.
Pipe three rosettes or as many as you like, then place a triangle cookie sheet all on a 45 degrees angle sloping same way around the cake.
You can use a hot fork to make indentations like in the video I did a ring around the lower 1/3 of the cake.
You can decorate the cake with some chocolate pieces, more piping and crumbled up left over oreo cookie sheet.
Keep chilled and airtight for longer storage.
But best served and cut at room temperature. You can always pre-cut the pieces then keep chilled and bring out only what is to be served.
65g 8 cups popped popcorn (butter flavored, if desired)
2 Teaspoon Cornflour
1/2 tsp fine salt (plus more to taste)
METHOD:
In a pot combine the coke (the recipe is mild in flavour, if you want stronger then start by reducing 2 cups down to 1), butter popcorn and sugar.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Set aside and cool down completely to allow more time to infuse flavour. If you have a lot of time on hand store overnight before blending.
Use juice blender or stick immersion blender to blend sauce as smooth as possible.
Return sauce to heat and add some warmed sauce to the cornflour and whisk till smoothly combined. Add the cornflour mix back into the sauce in the pot.
Bring to boil and simmer on medium heat whilst stirring frequently.
Cook until desired thickness and strain to rid any residue pieces of popcorn.
Cool completely before serving.
** I find a bit more salt than the recipe states makes the sauce shine a bit more.
SHORTBREAD FRENCH FRIES Ingredients:
340g (1 + 1/2 Cups) Unsalted Butter
125g (1 Cup) Pure Icing Sugar, sifted
375g (3 Cups) Plain Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Preheat oven to 180C (250F), grease and line a 32 x 24cm (12 x 9″) pan.
Beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
Gradually add in sifted icing sugar in portions.
Scrape down the sides and add in the flour mixing on low just until combined.
Using damp hands spread the batter evenly over the lined pan as smoothly as possible.
Use a sharp knife to slice into fries as small or large as you like.
Bake for 12-15 minutes for thick cut fries or less for French fries before removing and sharpening the edges between two sharp knives or metal spatulas.
Return to oven and bake until nicely golden around the edges for a crisp and firm texture, and that deep-fried look.
Allow to cool completely on wire rack, before packing or serving.
55g 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
60g 1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
150g 1 cup Plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons water, at room temperature
Preheat the oven to 150C 300F. Line a large tray with baking paper.
Beat together butter and sugar until creamy and smooth.
Beat in the egg and extract till well combined.
Whisk together in a separate bowl, the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Beat in the flour on low speed, then the water until well combined.
Transfer the batter to a small round nozzle fitted piping bag.
Pipe 2cm long tubes, a little shy of 1cm in thickness and plumber, rounded on both ends. Repeat until batter is used up and you can pipe them relatively close as they do not expand sideways too much.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating the tray half way through or until the sticks are lightly golden brown and set.
Cool completely before inserting into ganache filled molds.
DARK/WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE Ingredients:
325g dark chocolate
125ml thickened cream (For milk choc)
75ml thickened cream (35% fat)
275g white chocolate, finely chopped (For White Choc)
In two separate bowl, add one type of chocolate to each, and respective amount of cream to them.
Nuke in microwave gradually, stirring in between every 20-30 seconds until smoothly melted.
Transfer to a squeeze bottle or jug for easier pouring and make different coloured chocolate ‘mushrooms’.
Set your silicone molds on a tray for stability, and fill them a few mm shy from the brim and allow to set at room temperature just until firm enough to hold a biscuit stick in place.
Freeze the mushrooms until very solid and firm.
Unmold by peeling all edges of each mushroom outwards carefully, then invert and pop them out.
Store them in an airtight container, at room temperature or chilled after 2 days – or if it is exceptionally hot.
NOTE: If you were hoping to make layered colours, simply set your first layer just until it holds the second chocolate layer and you can warm it briefly in an oven at 100C for a minute or two so both layered melt. This way you can monitor the setting this round and insert the sticks to the depth necessary.
Sugary Lab 