Apple Pie

• 4 apples
• ¼ cup (80gr) apricot jam
• 1 quatity of Sweet Pastry (click HERE for recipe)
• ½ quantity of Crème Pâtissière (click HERE for recipe)

1. Make the Sweet Pastry and Crème Pâtissière following each recipe instruction.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4).
3. Roll out pastry to line the tart tin.
4. Line the pastry shell with greaseproof paper and beans or rice (if you don't have baking beans) - Blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes -  or until pastry is just cooked.
5. Fill the pastry with Crème Pâtissière, peel and core the apple, sliced thin and arrange over the top of the tart.
6. bake for 20-30 minutes or until the pastry is cooked / the apples are golden. Leave to cool.
7. Mix the apricot jam with 1tbs of warm water, brush over the apples to make them shines.

credits : photo by preparedpantry

Crème Pâtissière

• ½ cup (115gr) powdered sugar
• ¼ oz (10gr) plain all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup (30gr) cornstarch /  cornflour
• 6 egg  yolks
• ½ oz (15gr) butter
• 2¼(560ml) milk
• 1 vanilla pod 

1. Whisk the egg yolk and half of the sugar until pale and creamy. Stir in cornflour and flour, mix together.
2. In a saucepan, put milk, vanilla pod, the remaining sugar and bring just to the boil.
3. Strain half of the mixture over the egg yolk mixture, stirring continuously.
4. Pour back the egg yolk mixture to the milk saucepan and bring to boil, stirring constantly - boil for about 2 minutes, stir in the butter and leave to cool.
5. Transfer to bowl, lay plastic wrap on the surface to prevent a skin forming. Can be refrigerate up to 2 days.

credits : photo by imperialdessert

Sweet Pastry

• 2 ¾ cups (340gr) plain all-purpose flour
• 5 ½ oz (150gr) unsalted butter
• ¾ cup (90gr) powdered sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• pinch of salt

1.  Sift the flour, salt and sugar onto a work surface, make a well in the centre, put the butter into the well and rub in with your fingertips until the mixtures resembles breadcrumbs.
2.  Add the eggs, bring them together with your hands and knead them a few times to make a smooth dough.
3. Roll into ball, wrap with plastic and put in fridge for about an hour.
4. Roll out the pastry into a circle on lightly floured surface, trim the edge, pinch up the pastry edge to make an even border raise slightly above the rim of the tin, slide onto baking tray.

credits : photo by rawfish

Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pie

• 280gr all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 125gr butter, softened
• 100gr powdered sugar
• 100gr brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 120 ml buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 200gr semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg, then stir in the buttermilk and vanilla. 
3. Sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt) and slowly add them into the batter, mixing until just incorporated.
4.  Stir in chocolate chips and chill for 30 minutes.
5. in the preheated oven, bake for about 10-12 minutes for large whoopies or until cakes are left with slight impression when touched with a finger.

Filling Suggestion : Fluffy Marshmallow Filling

credits : photo by pinchmysalt

North Pole Marshmallow

 

• Rounded marshmallow / marshmallow log (snip them in two)
• Red stripes paper straws
• Rounded choco ball/mini bubblegum
• Bowl of water
• White Sugar
• Paper towel
• Crisco
• "North Pole" signs (get the FREE printable design HERE)
• Scissor
• Glue
•  

1.  Have everything ready, print out the Printable North Pole Signage Template and cut them, prepare bowl of water, paper towel, container for the sugar. Tips: If you cannot find a rounded marshmallow, you can snip marshmallow log in two.
2. Skewer your marshmallow at one end with a toothpick and quickly submerge it in the water and remove. Dab the excess water with paper towel and sprinkle generously with sugar.
3. Remove the sprinkled marshmallow from the toothpick and stack them.
4. Snip the paper straw in two and grease them with crisco.
5. Insert the paper straw into your stacked marshmallow, snip the top end if they are too long. Glue the choco ball / mini gumball on top of the paper straw ( you can use glue/melted chocolate/icing sugar). Glue the North Pole Sign to the paper straw.

 credits : photo by leelaaloo

Rudolph Nose Choco Chip Cookies

• basic chocolate chip cookies (click HERE for recipe)
• red MnM's/choco balls
• white candy melts 

1. Bake chocolate chip cookies following the recipe instruction. 
2. Just before they are fully baked, take out the cookie tray from the oven and push down the white candy melts onto each cookies. 
3. Put them back into the oven for a minute or two (just to melt the candy). 
4. Once the candy melted, take them out from the oven and squish down the red MnM's.

credits : photo by leelaaloo

Fluffy Marshmallow Filling

• 3 egg whites
• 150gr powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoon golden syrup
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1. Weigh all ingredients into a heatproof bowl and place the bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Whisk with handmixer until the sugar has dissolved, mixture is frothy and slightly opaque
2. Remove from heat and whip on high speed until thick and hold its shape. Use Straight away!

Tips: substitute for golden syrup are treacle/ molasses/ corn syrup

Tiramisu Cake

Cake :

• 4 eggs (200gr)
• 150gr almond powder
• 150gr powdered sugar
• 65gr cake flour
• 30gr melted butter
• 4 egg whites (130gr)
• 130gr white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the eggs, almond powder and powdered sugar in high speed until pale and fluffy. In low speed, stir in flour and melted butter.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together egg whites and white sugar until smooth and shiny. Gently and gradually fold in to the first mixture.
4. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cake are nicely browned.

Filling : 

• 3 egg yolks
• 50gr white sugar 
• 250gr mascarpone cheese
• 250ml heavy cream
• 8gr gelatine (dissolve in hot water)

1. Cream egg yolks in medium speed until pale and fluffy (approx. 5minutes), dissolve white sugar in hot water and stir into the batter. Keep on stirring until the batter cooled down.
2. Whisk in mascarpone cheese until well combined. dissolve gelatine in hot water and whisk into the batter, fast!
3. In a separate bowl, whip cream until stiff. Slowly whisk them in to the first mixture.

Frosting :

• 150ml heavy cream

1. whip cream until stiff.

Syrup :

• 50gr sugar
• 50ml water
• 30ml coffee
• 50cc kahlua 

1. In a medium saucepan combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Stir in coffee and kahlua.

 credits : photo by suizedepingu

Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup (225g) butter, softened
• 1 cup (200g) white sugar
• 1 cup (220g) packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (335g) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup (115) chopped walnuts/cashew nut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

 Tips : to make cookies with similar sizes, 
let the batter stand for approx. 10 min and roll them into balls

 credits : photo by leelaaloo