Apricot Choc Chip Cookies

When I saw this cookie recipe on the back of a packet of dried apricots I knew I had to make it. I've had really good luck with 'packet recipes'. My favourite peanut butter choc chip cookie recipe was found on the back of a brown sugar packet. My mum even has a cook book that has cut out recipes stuck to the blank side of every page (it's a very old book).

These cookies were great. They are crispy on the outside and soft and cakey on the inside. I made them quite large, the size recommended, and they held together really well. However I think that next time I make them (and I will definitely make them again), I'll make them just a little bit smaller to up the crispy edge to soft centre ratio, because I do like the crispiness.

I absolutely love dried apricots, and they work really well in these cookies. Their soft chewiness contrasts nicely with the choc chips. I also added a bit of cinnamon to the mix, which adds an extra flavour dimension.



I think this cookie stack looks like a monster, about to attack my rosehip tea!



Apricot Choc Chip Cookies

100g butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup choc chips

1. Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and creamy. Add egg and vanilla essence and beat well.

2. Add sifted flour, baking powder, and cinnamon and combine. Stir in apricots and choc chips.

3. Place tablespoons of mixture onto tray and press down to flatten. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 170 C.

White Choc Coconut Slice

I love white chocolate and coconut together, and have been wanting to make something combining these too for a while. So I 'invented' this white chocolate and coconut slice last week.

I basically reworked the standard caramel slice/any condensed milk based recipe. While it tasted really really good, it wasn't exactly what I had planned, so I was still a little disappointed. For the middle layer I wanted to mix coconut milk and egg whites with condensed milk and white chocolate. I already had the base in the oven when I discovered that my flatmates had used up BOTH my coconut milk and the communal eggs. I forged ahead anyway, and the middle was thankfully not too gooey. I'll try again to make it the way I planned, but not for a while I think. It was one hell of a sugar overload.

sev[en]circle

The moment I saw the sev[en]circle pattern, I had to make one. I love how it looks, and it really keeps my neck warm. For better drape, I think my yarn would have worked better with 5.0mm needles rather than 4.5mm. But that's not the pattern's fault.

I love it.

Sweet Polenta

Another random breakfast idea popped into my head a few days ago: sweet polenta. Obviously I'm not the first person to think of this (as a quick google will show), but this is what I did: I cooked it up as 1/2 cup each of polenta, water, and milk, plus a spoon of sugar, a handful of sultanas, and some powdered cloves and cinnamon. (I did have to add extra liquid though, as the polenta I used was a lot more thirsty than my usual brand).

A perfect breakfast! Polenta has plenty of protein, so it kept me going for ages, unlike the tapioca. It was also delicious, and freshly made it was a nice warm start for the cold morning. I made about two serves worth. I love to reheat set polenta with vegetable sauce for a fast dinner, but there's no reheating soft polenta (in my experience), so I'll need to experiment to figure out the perfect one serve amount, and see if it goes ok in the microwave too. This will defintely be a regular breakfast from now on.

The sultanas were lovely and juicy, and I'm sure other dried fruits will be really nice, such as dates and apricots, and nuts would be great too. Also, I kept the sugar amount low, because I intended to pour golden syrup all over it in the bowl. As you can see from the almost empty jar, golden syrup is very popular in this household.

Tapioca with Apricots and Orange Blossom

I bought my first bottle of Orange Blossom Water last week, and the first thing I wanted to use it in was tapioca pudding. I didn't get the chance to make and eat anything that night, so I decided I would have a slightly healthier version for breakfast the next day.

I soaked 1/3 cup of tapioca in water over night, then drained it and cooked it with 1 cup of milk, a tablespoon of sugar, some chopped dried apricots, and a splash each of vanilla extract and orange blossom water.

It was delicious, but I wouldn't recommend tapioca as a breakfast food. It's almost pure carbohydrate and even with the milk, I was hungry again less than two hours later. The rest of it was lovely as dessert the following evening though.

Cabled Beanie

The knitting project turnover rate has been pretty slow lately. I've mostly been working on a shawl which is now 0% complete, because I've ripped it back for the third time.

However, last week I finally purchased a set of interchangeable needles! So I'm gearing up to get some serious knitting done, and this is the first item finished:

Custard & Pear Cake

What I was aiming for: A light tea cake with a layer of vanilla custard and pear slices in the middle.

What I got: A giant scone with a layer of vanilla custard and pear slices in the middle.

I'm not sure if the problem was me or the recipe, but I suspect the latter. I knew something wasn't right when rather than cake batter I had a sticky dough to work with; that's why there's so many and such large air gaps in the cake. The end product wasn't at all bad, and if I had intended to make a giant scone I would have been very pleased. My flatmate is actually the one who noted the resemblance to scones, and she was more than happy to have seconds. And it turned out quite handy two days later when friend came to visit. Intending to bring scones, I told her there was no need as I still had part of giant scone in the fridge!



One thing I really did love was the white, vanilla seed speckled custard. My local supermarket only has custard powder made with wheaten cornflour, so until I remember to grab some next time I'm at a different store, I'll have to continue to use plain cornflour and vanilla. I added yellow colouring when I made the vanilla slice recently, but this time I didn't bother. The stark whiteness allows the vanilla seeds to really stand out, and somehow suits the pears.