Perfect Pecan Pie

So I finally dragged myself out of the kitchen and crossed some things off my TO DO list....

....I cleaned out my wardrobe and said goodbye to 6 (SIX!!!) pairs of beloved shoes

....I cleaned out an old chest of drawers and got it ready to be sold therefore making room for our new bedroom suite

....I did battle with the wheelie bin and put it out for collection in the morning

....I put on my secretaries hat and did some of OH's paperwork for his business because he is away

....I uploaded a tonne of clothes and shoes and bags and furniture onto the net to sell

....and I gave myself permission to cook this pecan pie as a reward for all my hard work!

Now I have never even tasted a pecan pie before let alone made one, so not only did I have no idea how to make one, I had no idea what it should taste / look like either!

As it turns out, Pecan Pie is dead easy to make and dead easy to eat (so easy in fact I would go as far as to call it dangerous....)

Look a pyramid of pecan pies!
Note that I made 1 big pie, 6 mini pies and had more then enough mixture left to make the scrolls at the bottom of the post so you could easily make 2 pies with this recipe :)


Pecan Pie

2 shortcrust pastry flan case (I used the Pampas one)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup golden syrup
1/4 cup maple syrup
100g butter
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (185g) pecan nuts

If you are using frozen flan cases, pop them on a tray in the oven for 10 mins at 180C while you prepare the filling.

Combine the brown sugar, golden syrup, maple syrup and butter in a saucepan or microwave safe dish. Cook over low heat or microwave for 90 seconds - 2 minutes, stirring regularly until sugar has dissolved.

Remove from heat (if using stove top) and add the eggs and vanilla. Whisk quickly to avoid eggs cooking. Once mixture is well combined pour into a jug.

Arrange nuts over bases of pastry cases and pour over the caramel. Bake for 45-55mins or until set. You can cover the pie with foil during baking to prevent burning if necessary. You will know the pie is set when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. It should appear firm but still have a slight jiggle to it. You can serve the pie fresh out of the oven with a dollop of thickened cream or you can serve it at room temperature - either way it's delicious!!


And seeing as I had roughly 3/4 cup of the caramel filling and some pecans left over, I decided to make these Caramel Pecan Pinwheels.

Even easier then the Pecan Pie, all you need to do is spread one sheet of puff pastry with half of the caramel mixture. Sprinkle with the pecans and roll up into a log. Cut into 2cm sections. Pour the remaining caramel into a baking pan and arrange pinwheels cut side down. Bake at 180C for around 25-30 mins or until puffed and golden. Once they are cooked, alow to cool for 5 mins and invert the pan onto a plate, this will allow the gooey caramel sauce to drizzle over the pinwheels.


1 recipe...2 awesome dishes!

Em x

Super Scrolls!

I never know what to call these, are they scrolls? Scone logs? Any who they are delicious and easy! You may have seen my previous strawberry scroll? That is pretty damn good, but here are two more variations on the scone log that will have you jumping for joy (or laying on the couch loosening your belt!)

Firstly we have the Nutella and Strawberry Scrolls


These are gooey and chocolatey and would make a spectacular dessert fresh out of the oven with cream :)

All you need is

1 pkt of pastry mix prepared as directed(cheating cheating cheating)
About half a cup of nutella
About half a cup of strawberry jam
Half a cup of sliced strawberries
40g of butter
2 tbspns caster sugar

Preheat oven to 160C fan forced and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
Melt the butter and sugar together in the microwave and stir to combine. Set aside to cool.
Roll your pastry mix out into a nice rectangle.
Spread the nutella evenly over the pastry, leaving a 2 cm gap around the long edges.
Spread the strawberry jam over the nutella and scatter with strawberries.
Start from the long edge closest to you and roll the pastry into a tight log. You may experience some leakage and some over flow but thats all good.
Try and bring the ends of your log together and seal to form a ring.
Carefully move to your baking tray and brush with the melted butter and sugar mix. Bake for around 20-25 mins or until golden.
I always get too excited and try and cut it up before it cools - bad idea - you end up with nutella and jam everywhere so be patient, let it cool and then cut it up!

Next we have the Apple and Cinnamon Scroll


Very similar - but not as likely to make your teeth fall out as the first one!

1 box of pastry mix prepared as directed
3/4 cup of stewed apple (I used pie apple so it was chunky but I think the stewed apple would have worked better)
80g butter
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 tbspn brown sugar
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 160C fan forced and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
Melt the butter and sugar together in the microwave and stir to combine. Set aside to cool.
Roll your pastry mix out into a nice rectangle.
Spread the apple over the pastry, leaving a 2cm gap on your long edges.
Pour about 3/4 of your butter mixture over the apple and sprinkle with the brown sugar.
Start from the long edge closest to you and roll the pastry into a tight log. You may experience some leakage and some over flow but thats all good, just try and avoid any massive splits in your pastry. (Is there an echo in here?)
Try and bring the ends of your log together and seal to form a ring.
Carefully move to your baking tray. Sprinkle some cinnamon into the remaining butter mix and stir to combine.
Brush the ring with the cinnamon butter mix and bake for around 20-25 mins or until golden.
Remember not to cut up until cool! Unless you want to have it hot out of the oven for dessert - in which case go for it, just cover it with cream and ice cream if it falls apart!!

And this week these recipes are also featured over at Sweet As Sugar Cookies!
It's been a long weekend here and I had an RDO on Friday so after 4 days off I am not keen on going back to work tomorrow at all. But apparently I need to work so I can keep baking lol and buying shoes....and clothes...I'm never ever going to be able to retire am I!?

Em x

Scrumptious Strawberry Scroll Log

Believe it or not this lil one was whipped up in about 5 minutes last night while OH and I were waiting for Mum and Dad to arrive for dinner. It could easily be served as a dessert hot out of the oven with some cream, you could wrap it up for a lunch box treat or you could serve it at a fancy morning / afternoon tea! (We do seem to be on a versatile dish theme this week don't we!)

Ok so all you need is

1 x box pastry mix (cheating I know)
250g fresh strawberries (washed, hulled and finely diced)
100g butter
3/4 cup caster sugar

Make pastry mix as per instructions. Roll out on a floured surface into a large rectangle.
Pre-heat oven to 150C (fan forced)
Melt butter and sugar together.
Spread 3/4 butter mix over the pastry, leaving a 2cm gap on long edges.
Scatter strawberries over butter mix.
Starting from a long edge, roll pastry up into a log.
Transfer to a lined and greased oven tray.
Bring ends of roll together to create a circle.
Pour remaining butter and sugar mixture over the top and use a pastry brush to ensure all surfaces are covered.
Bake for around 20 mins or until pastry is golden and cooked through.
Slice into sections and serve hot or cold, plain or with ice cream or cream or straight off the pan!!

Happy Wednesday!

Em x

Baking is good for the soul

Well it has been a turbulent few days. OH is still interstate and it has caused some dramas at home and things are abit all over the place. I'm quite capable of coping when he is away because he does it for work all the time, but when he is away and we are arguing and it's all done over text, I can't cope with that, so yesterday I left work at 11am feeling like my head was going to explode. And there was only one thing I wanted to do, bury myself in the kitchen up to my elbows in eggs, butter, flour and sugar! So I made a quick stop at the supermarket and went home to get stuck into it.

First on my to do list were some vegemite and cheese scrolls. I used a packet of pastry mix (lazy yes I know!) but for the first time I made it up using the dough hooks in my electric mixer, and what a difference it made. The dough had a much better consistency and was easier to work with. Once the dough was complete, I rolled it into something that resembled a rectangle and slathered it in vegemite and a generous helping of grated cheese. Then I rolled it all up, cut into slices and baked in the oven for about 20 mins until they looked like this:



I normall hate vegemite with a passion (promite girl through and through) but the smell that filled the house while these were baking was pretty damn good! Plus these scrolls last forever in the freezer.

Next on the list was some pineapple jelly cupcakes. In my head I wanted to make the jelly and then when it was cool, combine with a few tbspns of the cake mix and swirl it through, similar to the raspberry wedding cupcakes. But I was soon to learn that this just wasn't gonna work. I think I had my jelly to cake consistency all wrong and it just wouldn't swirl. But they still came out of the oven as perfect lil buttercake cupcakes, so instead I combined a few tbspns of the jelly / cake mix with about 1/2 cup of vanilla frosting and put it back in the fridge to set. This turned out to be a much better option because you now have the light fluffy buttercake base and the creamy vanilla and pineapple frosting...yay!! Plus they look kinda pretty : )



Then it was time for a dinner break so I threw come cucumber, tomato and green capsicum in a bowl with a Sanitarium Not Burger that I had cooked in the oven. Mmmmmmm



But my urge for baking was still not satisfied and I had been craving carrot cake lately, god knows why, I haven't had carrot cake for years and years. Plus I also had the urge to make an actual full size cake instead of cupcakes for a change. I was pretty proud of the result for my first effort. I poured a vanilla glaze over the cake once it was cooled and I have just finished having a slice for my morning tea and it is heavenly. Soft, moist, full of flavour, and the glaze is enough to give it a hint of sweetness without taking away from the flavour of the cake itself.



And after all that, my head was clear. I still had no answers, nothing was resolved, but for the mean time I didn't feel like the world was closing in around me. So I went to bed, thankful that between my Dad and my workmates someone would eat all the food that would be coming out of my kitchen in the next few days!

Em x