Some call them cookies: Anzac Biscuits

The school where I teach has a program called JanTerm – a 8-9 day period after Christmas break where students take four 80 minute classes per day that are outside of the regular curriculum. This year I decided to teach a baking class called Cookies around the World. We are baking cookies/desserts from 8 different countries and learning about how the cookie came to be so popular in its respective culture. I have been testing out recipes, my husband being the taste tester, to make sure they work before I attempt to make them with 24 junior high and high school students.

Today I made Anzac Biscuits from Australia, chewy butterscotch-flavored oatmeal and coconut cookies. We could not believe how good they were. They would be delicious with a cup of tea or coffee… or just a glass of milk which was what I had. I think their amazing flavor comes from butter (of course), but also golden syrup, an ingredient I had to buy online. It is a sticky, golden-colored, sweet, almost butterscotchy syrup that is a form of inverted sugar syrup (a syrup made by splitting sucrose into fructose and glucose). Many recipes I found said you could substitute corn syrup for golden syrup, which I’m sure would result in the same texture, but I don’t think the flavor would be nearly as good. I wish it were sold in stores around here so I could make these cookies more often. I guess buying it on amazon.com isn’t the worst case scenario.

The ingredients are very simple: flour, oats, sugar, butter, coconut, golden syrup, and baking soda.

The anzac biscuits were first created during World War I when mothers and wives of soldiers were concerned about the nutritional value of the food being supplied to the soldiers. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The food was transported on very slow-moving ships which took up to two months to reach their destinations, requiring the food to be edible after a long period of time. The women decided to make a biscuit with oats as the basis. The other ingredients they used were able to last for long periods of time as well. There are no eggs in these cookies as many of the poultry farmers had joined the service and eggs were hard to come by. The golden syrup was used as a binding agent instead (good choice!). They packaged the biscuits in airtight metal tins to keep them as fresh as possible. During World War II with refrigeration now available, anzac biscuits weren’t made nearly as often. Today they are still enjoyed regularly in Australia and are also often used by veterans’ organizations to raise funds for the care and welfare of aged war veterans.

 

Anzac Biscuits                                                                        

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup sugar
½ cup (1 stick) butter
2 Tbl golden syrup or corn syrup
2 Tbl water
1 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Add the oats, flour, coconut and sugar to a large bowl and mix together.

2. Add the butter, golden syrup and water to small saucepan. Set over a low flame and heat until the butter is completely melted, whisking all the ingredients together. Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda.

3. Pour the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and use a spatula or fork to mix the ingredients together.

4. Drop tablespoonfuls of the batter onto a greased baking pan, leaving room for them spread out a bit. Bake for anywhere from 10 to 12 minutes. The shorter time will yield chewy biscuits. Baked for the longer time, the biscuits become crispier.

Christmas cards and gift tags no more…

I'm cheap and didn’t want to buy thank you cards for the Christmas presents we received this year. I also don’t like throwing things away. So I had a solution for both of those problems. Turn the Christmas tags and cards I had gotten into thank you cards! I began with a pack of plain white cards and envelopes. I already had these, but if you don’t, you can buy 50 of them for under $10 on amazon.com.

What started as a "Season's Greetings" card with an adorable snowman on it, ended up as a simple thank you card. I used my paper cutter to cut the snowman off from the front of the card, and double-sided tape to stick it onto my blank white card. 

Pretty gift tags are the easiest to work with because usually the writing is on the back of the tag. I had a few tags from last Christmas that worked perfectly.

 



One card I left almost as is, just cutting out the front and putting it on a blank card.

I used the back of the card and a small piece of wrapping paper to make a second card as well.

A Charlie Brown card fit perfectly on a blank card once I cut off the greeting.

I used two cards to make the next one - the front of one and the back of a second.

 

This would work well with wrapping paper or ribbon as well. Be creative!

DIY Indoor Christmas Wreaths

While reading the December issue of Martha Stewart Living, I saw a picture of five homemade wreaths made of greenery and red ribbon hanging inside in a window. I thought this would be the perfect solution for my wall of mirrors in the dining room. I had some twiggy garland that I hadn’t used for any decorations and decided to cut it up into five pieces to form my wreaths. I used rubber bands to make each piece of garland into a circle. They were all a little bit different sizes, which I wanted. I didn't want it to look too perfect.

Following Martha’s instructions (although she used embroidery hoops as her base), I used a hot glue gun to glue cedar branches that I had collected from my parents’ house onto the wreath. Using a hot glue gun turned out to work very well and it was so easy. Each wreath took about 5-10 minutes and cost me nothing, as I had all the supplies already! I had red velvet ribbon that I knew would be perfect for hanging the wreaths. I cut the ribbon to the desired lengths (this took some adjusting, as the first time it looked too symmetric). Then, I nailed the ribbon at the top in the corner where the wall meets the ceiling with small wire nails.

I love how the mirrored wall is no longer the focus, but instead the natural, beautiful wreaths are. I just need to think of a way to use this idea for other times of year…

Brown Paper Packages Tied up With String...

Ok, I really don’t like that song, but as I was wrapping presents I couldn’t get it out of my head. I decided to wrap my Christmas presents in brown paper this year. I hate not having wrapping paper for the other times of year because all I have is Christmas paper, so this year, I decided to buy a roll of brown paper, and that could serve as my everything paper – birthdays, Christmas, and whatever else I happened to want to wrap. You can buy brown paper from Target or any other store that selling wrapping paper or mailing supplies. I love how thick it is compared to some of the thin cheap wrapping paper out there. I think this idea would be beautiful with white paper as well.

Not only is it economical, but I think it looks beautiful to have such simple presents under the tree.  I love the look of all the paper looking the same so the beautiful ribbon can stand out. And saving money on wrapping paper allowed me to spend money on ribbon. I bought various types of ribbon that I have mixed and matched. My favorites are the red and white raffia and the scalloped felt ribbon from World Market. These are a few of my favorite things...

Merry Christmas!

A new baked potato

I’m trying to be creative with my 5-lb bag of potatoes rather than making mashed or baked potatoes once and forgetting about the rest of them until a month later I discover them sprouting. I had seen this on Pinterest a few weeks ago, and decided to try it. I loved baked potatoes, and potatoes and cheddar cheese are an excellent combination, so I thought it would be perfect.

Basically, here’s what I did: slice the potatoes about ¾ of the way through, season with salt and pepper, smear with butter, bake until nearly done, top with cheddar cheese, and bake until cheese is golden. They were good, but I think to make them great, I will do a few things differently next time. First of all, I will melt the butter and pour half of it over the potatoes before baking and the other half halfway through baking. Second, I will bake them at a higher temperature. I baked mine at 375, which didn’t allow them to get as crisp as I would have liked, and they actually dried out a bit because it took longer than it should have.  Third, I will fan the potatoes before baking. I thought they would fan themselves more in the oven, but they didn’t as much as I would like.

A good way to cut the potatoes without going all the way through (I learned this after I finished) is to rest the potato on a wooden spoon. This holds it in place and doesn’t allow you to cut past the spoon. See this blog for a picture: An Oregon Cottage.

Baked Fanned Potatoes

4 baking potatoes
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
Salt and pepper
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
Minced fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice potatoes thinly but not all the way through, using a wooden spoon to hold potato in place (see note above). Place in baking dish with sides. Fan potatoes slightly. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour half of the melted butter over potatoes. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from oven and pour remaining butter over potatoes. Bake for another 20 minutes, until nearly done. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese. Bake until cheese is golden, about 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve hot.

Proper Apple Cider

We were invited to press cider with some of our old friends from high school and some of their friends. The property we were at belongs to one of our high school friends’ grandparents. They don’t live there anymore and don’t grow or raise anything there (besides having a few fruit trees), but they have an old apple press and a lot of other treasures I would love to sift through someday.

The apple press is the double-tub style, very popular in the early 1900’s and very good at extracting a lot of juice from the apples. These types of cider presses were originally operated by a hand-crank, but somewhere along the way, someone in the family attached a simple motor to the apple crushing part of the press to save a lot of time and energy.

I was shocked at how easy it was. We threw in the apples whole, with the skin, stem, and sometimes even leaves on them. The crushing mechanism pulverized the apples and some juice came out at that point. Once the tub underneath was full, we switched the two tubs, and the full tub would then be pressed. This is where we had to do a little work in order to press all the juices out of the crushed apples. I could not believe how much juice came out of so few apples. And the color was phenomenal – almost pink it was so fresh. The juice was delicious straight out of the press, but straining it got rid of some of the larger bits of apple that made it through.

The cider was sweet yet tart, and tasted just like eating a fresh apple. I have no idea what kind of apples we used as they came from various people’s apple trees in their backyards, but they made delicious cider. If you have the chance someday, this is an experience you don't want to miss... and cider so fresh and apple-y, you won't believe how good it is! 

Leftover bread + eggs + milk = simple and delectable baked French toast

Friday night dinner:  “Rigatoni and Red Sauce” (one of my husband's childhood favorites) and a French baguette. Saturday morning breakfast: baked French toast. 

We love French toast, but have never tried it baked before. It sounded like a great way to use up the leftover bread, so I looked around for a recipe. I found that most of the recipes contained a lot of butter and sugar. I wanted a not-terribly-unhealthy breakfast dish, not dessert. I used a recipe from Epicurious.com as my inspiration. French toast is really just bread, eggs, and milk, so that’s pretty much what I did. We always add almond extract to our French toast because that’s the way my husband likes it. I think vanilla extract would be tasty as well.

Before baking, I topped it with granulated sugar for a little bit of sweetness and a crunch on top.  The neat thing about baking it is that the top was crunchy and underneath, it was really moist, almost like bread pudding.

Baked French Toast (serves 2-3)

½ baguette, sliced 1-inch thick (any French bread will work)
1-2 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
½ teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)




Arrange sliced bread in a 9 x 9 x 2 inch pan.  You may have to squeeze the bread a little to fit. Butter the tops of the slices of bread.

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt. Pour mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Take out the pan about 20 minutes before you plan to bake it so that it comes to room temperature. Sprinkle the top with the sugar.

Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes until the top is golden brown. It will be puffy when you take it out, but will fall after coming out of the oven. Let cool slightly before serving. Dust each serving with powdered sugar. We didn’t think it needed any syrup, but berries or other fruit may be good on top.

Fresh-picked apple cake

A student of mine has an apple tree in her backyard that is producing an abundant crop, so naturally her family doesn’t know what to do with all of them. She decided to bring them to me, since she knows how much I love to bake. Wow, was I excited when I tasted them! They are small, crisp, tart, and just sweet enough. Exactly what I wish every apple was like.

I decided to look for a recipe for apple cake, something I had never made before. I wanted something easy without too many spices in it. I found a recipe on Epicrious.com for a French apple cake that was so simple and had received great reviews. I knew this was the one.

The recipe came from a cookbook called Around My French Table: More Than 300Recipes from My Home to Yours  and was created by Marie-Hélène Brunet-Lhoste, a French cook who rarely uses a recipe, but managed to write this one down. The only alteration I made was to leave out the rum.

The ingredients are simple – flour, baking powder, sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla, salt and apples. The method is also simple, the peeling and chopping of the apples being the most difficult part. The cake is cooked in a springform pan, and my only qualm with it was that it was a short cake. I would like it to be a little bit taller. Other than that, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Not only was the flavor of the cake excellent (I’m sure due to the fresh picked apples) and not too sweet, the texture was also amazing. Because of the moisture of the apples, it was almost like a bread pudding consistency. I decided to serve it (to my students, who loved it!) with lightly sweetened cinnamon whipped cream, which was a perfect compliment. I hope you enjoy it as well.

French Apple Cake (adapted from Marie-Hélène'sApple Cake)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

4 large apples (if you can, choose 4 different kinds) – I used 6, since mine were small

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter an 8-inch springform pan and put it on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and put the springform on it.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in small bowl.

Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the cores. Cut the apples into 1- to 2-inch chunks.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until they’re foamy. Pour in the sugar and whisk for a minute or so to blend. Whisk in the rum and vanilla. Whisk in half the flour and when it is incorporated, add half the melted butter, followed by the rest of the flour and the remaining butter, mixing gently after each addition so that you have a smooth, rather thick batter. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the apples, turning the fruit so that it's coated with batter. Scrape the mix into the pan and poke it around a little with the spatula so that it's evenish.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean; the cake may pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for 5 minutes.

Carefully run a blunt knife around the edges of the cake and remove the sides of the springform pan. (Open the springform slowly, and before it’s fully opened, make sure there aren't any apples stuck to it.) Allow the cake to cool until it is just slightly warm or at room temperature. If you want to remove the cake from the bottom of the springform pan, wait until the cake is almost cooled, then run a long spatula between the cake and the pan, cover the top of the cake with a piece of parchment or wax paper, and invert it onto a rack. Carefully remove the bottom of the pan and turn the cake over onto a serving dish.

Serving
The cake can be served warm or at room temperature, with or without a little softly whipped, barely sweetened heavy cream or a spoonful of ice cream.

Storing
The cake will keep for about 2 days at room temperature and, according to my husband, gets more comforting with each passing day. However long you keep the cake, it's best not to cover it — it's too moist. Leave the cake on its plate and just press a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper against the cut surfaces.

Flying off the plate

One of my best friends planned an airplane party for her son Zachary's 2nd birthday. Sidenote: she has an awesome blog: www.allboybycandacerae.com. I was in charge of making airplane cookies. How fun! I have a great sugar cookie and icing recipe that I used for my nephew’s birthday (for recipes, see http://anytimegourmet.blogspot.com/2011/07/boy-turns-one.html ), so all I had to do was design how I wanted the airplane to look.

Such cute invitations too!

I made a batch of the sugar cookie icing and left half of it plain so that it would look like a natural white color. This was the first layer on the cookies. I split the other half in half again and added red to one bowl and blue to another. I used the Wilton icing colors to make the red and blue really vibrant.

I didn’t have any piping bags, so I tried using small Ziploc bags to “pipe” the windows and stripes on the plane, but that didn’t work very well. The icing is a little bit runny, which is what makes it dry so smooth and shiny, but that also makes it difficult to pipe. I used toothpicks to create the design and although it took a little bit longer than I would like, they turned out great.

Zachary (and all of us) had a great time at his party, and the cookies were gone before the day was over!

The photo booth was also a big hit!

My hubby and I looking so serious at the airplane-themed photo booth