A Cold Summer Dinner

In case you have been living under a rock, Melbourne has been experiencing a record breaking heat wave. This can create many challenges to a party-thrower: "is it too hot for an outside picnic or BBQ?", "can I really serve just salad for dinner?", "its too hot to use the oven, what are my options for a dinner party?"

But alas - do not fear - Lush is hear with a solution - see my recipes below for the perfect stay at home (in the AirCon) dinner party.

MAIN - Cold Chicken in Curried Cream (serves 6-10)

 A family favorite of ours - tasty, spicy and served cold.
 PLEASE NOTE - this dish must be prepared the day prior.

The Chicken

• 1.5kg skinless chicken breasts (cut into medium sized tenderloins)
• Poached gently at a simmer on the stove-top in a thin stock consisting of:
• Chicken Stock Powder 
• Salt/Pepper 
• Garlic Powder 
• Curry Powder 
• Mild Smoked Paprika 
• Turmeric 
• Cumin Powder 
• Lemon Oil (or zest will substitute)
• Poach until just done and tender. (do not overcook or will be tough).
• Let cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours in half the cooking liquid (add ice to expedite)

The Sauce

• Whilst the chicken is cooling in the fridge, you can start to prepare the curried cream sauce:
• First in a saucepan, saute until translucent and soft:
•  3 Tbl vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, roughly diced
•  Once soft, add: 
• 1 Tbl curry powder (cook for a further one minute)
•  Remove from heat, and add
• ¼ cup tomato sauce
• 1 Tbl apricot jam
• 1 Tbl  mango chutney
•  Once completely cool - fold in:
•  ½ cup oil mayonnaise
•  ½ cup cream, lightly whipped to soft peaks

 Finishing it off

• Drain the chicken pieces
• Layer in a casserole dish (alternating layers of Sauce/Chicken) 
• Ensure all chicken is covered 
• Then Refrigerated overnight

 

 

SIDE - Turkish Spoon Salad (serves 6-10)

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 1 lemon - juiced + 1 tsp zest
• 1 tbsp red wine or sherry vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red chilli (finely grated)
• 1 bunch flat leaf parsley (finely chopped)
• 1 bunch mint (finely chopped)
• 2 punnets cherry tomatoes
• 2 yellow capsicums (bell peppers)
• 2 Lebanese cucumber
• 3 whole pomegranates
• 1 cup shelled pistachios

Method

1. Combine the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice and zest, vinegar, oil and chilli in bowl
2. Add the parsley and mint to the same bowl and refrigerate to marinate for 15 minutes
3. Meanwhile, Finely dice (into peanut sized pieces):
1. Cherry tomatoes - each needs to be cut into sixths (or use whole tomatoes but remove seeds)
2. Cucumber - with the seeds removed
3. Capsicums - also with the seeds removed
4. Combine with the remaining ingredients (i.e add vegetables to sauce/herbs).
5. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes - this will allow the flavours to infuse perfectly.
6. Once marinated -  drain in a sieve to remove any excess juices that has accumulated.
7. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

 

Beverages

It can be unwise to serve wine or sparkling on extremely hot day - therefore I would stick to beer or non-alcoholic beverages.

Enjoy the AirCon and your cold feast.
Lush

25 minute Ice Cream Layer Cake

In an attempt to save space, money and trees I have cancelled my food magazine subscriptions and gone through my 5 (!!) years of magazine - tearing out recipes I liked. As a result, I have nothing lightweight to flick through on our endless hot summer nights. Giving into temptation, I bought my first ever Taste magazine. Full of quick, easy hot weather meals this may become a regular purchase.

This isn't an advert for Taste, so I won't wax lyrical, except to give them credit for this recipe. It's so simple and it only takes 25 minutes. Although not the cheapest option, if you ever need a quick, cooling dessert that can be instantly made larger or smaller this is the one for you. As always I have a few changes and tips that are strongly recommended. 

• Assume 1/2 ice cream sandwich per person for a normal sized slice
• Swap the cream for ice cream to avoid that icy texture if you over freeze it
• Make room in your freeze before starting this!
• Swap the chocolate sauce for a pre-made one or even just melted chocolate
• If the cream is too frozen, use the chocolate sauce to stick the toppings on
• For extra minty-ness, add some peppermint essence to the cream once whipped

Mint Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

Serves 4-5

Ingredients

Cake:

• 2x 4 pack of Cadbury Ice Cream Sandwiches 
• 300ml cream, whipped to soft peaks
• 1 pack Aero Baubles, sliced thinly length ways (into shards)
• 2 pack Mint Crisp, cut in half

A version of Nigella's Chocolate Sauce:

• 75g dark chocolate
• 125ml double cream
• 2tsp of instant espresso powder dissolved in 2tbsp water
• 1 tbsp golden syrup

Method

1. On a flat serving plate arrange 4 of the ice cream sandwiches
2. Cover the top with a layer of cream about 0.5cm thick
3. Sprinkle half the mint crisp shards on top
4. Place the remaining ice cream sandwiches on top
5. Top with cream and freeze for 20mins
6. Scatter with the top with Aeros and mint crisp
7. Drizzle the hot chocolate sauce over the top, slice and serve 

Enjoy!

Glutton

Meringue Layer Cake

We're almost one month in to 2014 and Lush and I really should have a resolution to make this a dedicated blogging year. Working in our favour is that I now have access to my own kitchen. Not that I didn't have a kitchen before, but now there is no one else to get annoyed by the mess I leave behind. Working against us is our natural ability to be consumed by the cooking and the eating and forget about the photographing and writing! Wish us luck; we will need it!

Using this kitchen freedom, I have been making an effort to cook regularly and have started hosting dinner parties again! A dinner party with friends usually involves a rich, chocolate brownie or a pudding that smells good enough to overpower the lack of any attempt (or success) at decoration and presentation. But no more!

This is my attempt a meringue layer cake that to be honest was more of a learning experience than a success. Things to remember with meringue:

• Don't make it on a humid day (you'll notice mine is quite flat)
• Make sure to beat your eggs well to get as much air as possible
• Assemble the cake no more than 30 minutes before you eat it. The creme patisserie will make the meringue soft and you don't want to lose the crunchy chewiness
• Most of all, even when it fails, it's still delicious and good friends will lie and agree with you

Ingredients

Meringue

• 6 egg whites (save the yolks for the creme patisserie!)
• 300g cater sugar
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 cup pecans, finely processed
• Seasonal Berries (preferably not frozen as they will be too wet)
• Icing sugar to dust

Creme Patisserie

• 300ml full fat milk
• 30g unsalted good quality butter
• pinch of salt
• 60g unrefined caster sugar
• 30g plain flour
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Meringue

1. Preheat the oven to 140ºC. Line 3 baking sheets with baking paper and trace the bottom of a loaf tin onto each
2. Beat the egg whites until there are stiff peaks. Then slowly add the sugar a spoonful at a time, make sure to beat well after each addition. 
3. Gently fold through the vinegar, vanilla and pecans. Making sure not to knock the air out of the eggs as you go.
4. Divide the mix between the 3 baking trays. Stack each meringue thick to get it as chewy as possible
5. Bake for 1 hour, then turn the oven off and leave the meringues in it to cool.

Creme Patisserie

1. Beat the egg yolks and caster sugar until pale and thick ribbons form when the beaters are lifted
2. Seive the flour over the top and mix until smooth
3. Put the milk, butter, salt and vanilla in a medium sized, non-stick saucepan.
4. Bring the milk to the boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat and pour a ladle full over the eggs. Stir quickly until smooth. Repeat until about half of the milk has been incorporated
5. Pur the egg and milk mix into the saucepan with the remaining milk.
6. Bring to the boil then simmer on a low heat for 3 minutes
7. Cover the surface with gladwrap or baking paper so that a skin doesn't form

Assembly

1. To assemble, place one of the meringues on a flat plate and spread with a third of the creme patissiere. 
2. Scatter a layer of berries, top with another of the meringues and repeat

Enjoy!

Glutton

Pear tart with thyme, gorgonzola and walnuts

Time: 1-2 hours

Serves: 6

When you cannot choose between dessert or cheese - why not have both.

Healthy Jacket Potato

It's been a while since I harped on about healthy eating, but after recently being called a gym-junkie (an exaggeration, I promise!) I realised that maybe my diet should start matching my exercise regime.

My gym spruiks the paleo diet which I think is a little too extreme, but I do think that it is worth avoiding high fat, high carb meals. Unfortunately that is what I was craving - a big jacket potato, topped with sour cream, bacon and spring onion. Delicious! Now (as you may have guessed from the picture below) I decided to get a little creative to give myself that creamy, salty potato topping but without the guilt.

Green Vegetable Pasta

I recently had a craving for green vegetables. Now I know this doesn't sound momentus, but I'm not really a fan of the standard meat and 3 veg so I am always trying to come up with new ways to enjoy vegetables. This meal was inspired by what I had in the fridge (again not sounding all that exciting), but it was such a success that I have decided to share it with all of you on the interwebs.

I used asparagus, green beans and broccoli, but you could easily play around with any green vegetable that is in season; spinach in winter, fresh peas in summer. Potentially non-green vegetables would work, but the lemony sauce really seems to work with that chlorophyll flavour.

Banana Bread

In Canberra, everyone believes that ANZAC day is the unofficial start of winter and the weather definitely agrees. It's time to start making soups and curries and casseroles - all those hearty, warming foods. Unfortunately most recipes are normally designed for 4 and I only cook for 1 which means a lot of leftovers and the need for a lot of freezer space!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I freeze bananas (and anything else that will survive) rather than wasting it. However bananas seem to take up most of my freezer space, so I am on a clearing out spree to make room for all my winter warmers. The latest banana using addition is this delicious banana bread from 101 Cookbooks.

Banana Pikelets

I'm not what you would call a morning person. If given the choice between 10 more minutes in bed or getting up eating a banana and coffee before heading to work; bed will win every time. What this does mean though, is that the end of each week I have several overripe bananas to do something with. A great tip I learnt is that you can freeze bananas whole in their own skin (low effort solution for the win!).

Recently while scrummaging through the freezer I discovered about a dozen bananas taking up precious space so decided to go on a banana baking spree (apologies in advance if you are looking for a banana free recipe!). 

This is the first of several banana recipes; a easy, quick breakfast that can be made in advance or while hovering in the kitchen with a mug of coffee.

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

I know we're well past Christmas, but I didn't get a chance before I went on holidays to share one of my family's biggest traditions. In an attempt to cut down on the rampant Christmas spending that haunted us every year, we switched to Kris Kringle a few years ago - meaning that the adults only got one gift each (the kids still get a pile taller than themselves). But there is still that niggle, that little thing in all of our minds (by which I mean the female side of the family) saying that you still need to give everyone something even if you aren't allowed to buy anything. So, what to do you do? Make jam!

Chicken and Peach Summer Salad

Summer is the time of stone fruit and delicious berries. Growing up, stone fruit was not only expensive, but invariably had been flown from the US or Australia unripe and ended up tasting like squidgy, floury mush by the time we bought it in Singapore. When I first moved back to Australia I was amazed at the range and flavour of all the different summer fruits; who knew that peaches could be white or yellow, or that plums came in at least 3 different colours ! Biting into a ripe peach, with juice running down your chin and over your hand has to be one of my favourite summer moments. So when scanning through my collection of magazines and cookbooks for inspiration for a refreshing summer salad, peach sounded like the perfect accompaniment.

Mushroom Risotto

Risotto is a great meal to make when friends are stopping by as its easy to leave it bubbling on the stove, with the occasional stir, while socialising around the kitchen bench. 

Having recently watched most of Jamie Oliver's 15 and 30 minute meals, I have become a convert to his ways of reducing my preparation time. This recipe features a great trick of using the food processor for any fine chopping, it also includes the flavouring (porcini mushrooms) in the sofrito rather than soaking them to make a stock. My extra little cheat is to use al Funghi Porcini stock instead of the standard chicken. Not only is it vegetarian, like all stocks cubes it is instant and adds an extra robustness to the flavour of the rice. I'm not sure where it is available, but I get it in my local Melbourne supermarket.

3 Bean Salad

I don't know about the rest of the world, but Australia is currently experiencing some pretty dramatic weather. After having a few easy years, the long hot days seem to be back with a vengeance and there is little you feel like doing expect sitting underneath an air-con vent. It's at times like these where I really love summer salads; you don't have to cook them so the kitchen stays cool and if you refrigerate them before eating, you get this fantastically cold, but filling, meal.

Now, I will say in advance that this is not a glamorous recipe; in fact, it is probably one of the laziest meals I make. Ignoring that, this is a quick (10 minutes) meal that will keep for days and travels very well.

Upside-down Blood Orange Cake

I am not a huge fan of oranges; all that pith in a glass of juice or if eating it whole I invariably buy that one sour orange on offer. However, blood oranges are a completely different story. I find they are usually quite tart which makes them perfect for cooking as you can add a bit of sugar for balance.

Having some friends over for a weeknight dinner, and as always, my best laid plans of preparing everything the day before had not been realised so I was scouring my cookbooks for a stunning, yet straightforward recipe. I came across Donna Hay's sticky orange and vanilla upside-down cake in her Seasons book. Having made a variant of the cake before, I knew it would work, but without Donna's fantastic team of food stylists there was no chance of my vanilla bean looking that artful. Instead I decided to distract my guests with the novelty of a deep rosy, blood orange topping.

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

Although it is the end of winter here in Melbourne, having just returned from a trip to Kuala Lumpur I am struggling to view 18 degrees as warm and so have been feasting on all types of winter warmers.

The hardest thing I found whilst being away was that as it was a work trip I had to stay in a hotel. Oh yes, I know what a struggle! In my defence, it meant that I couldn't cook which was a struggle. I am so used to being able to control what goes into my meals (and how big they are!) that I found it quite difficult. With another trip (but this time a holiday) coming up soon, I am glad I have booked in an apartment for a few days so that I can at least make myself the occasional light meal.

Now that I am well and truly back at home, I realised I have missed out on weeks of new restaurant openings and of course catch ups with friends so am still eating out quite a bit, but alternating with the occasional light winter warmer at home. This recipe is the classic example of a quick meal that is filling, nourishing and warming; perfect for a night on the couch catching up on The Farmer Wants a Wife!

Ingredients

• 1.5 litres chicken or vegetable stock (cubes will do in a hurry)
• 1 tbs fish sauce
• 4 kaffir lime leaves (the extras freeze very well in a ziplock)
• 1.5kg pumpkin, cubed (I prefer butternut for its easy chopping qualities)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 bunch coriander
• 1 birds eye chilli (you can substitute a dried chilli or even chilli flakes)
• 1/2 lime, juiced

Method

1. Into a large pot, add the stock, fish sauce, pumpkin and 3 lime leaves (bruised).
2. If using dried chilli add it to the pot now.
3. Bring liquid to the boil and simmer for 10 mins for until pumpkin is soft.
4. Remove from the heat and remove lime leaves.
5. Using either a blender or bamix/stick blender, purée liquid and pumpkin until smooth.
6. Add coconut milk. Although I have said 1 cup above, it really depends on how creamy you want your soup so make sure to taste as you add and mix.
7. On a low heat, warm the soup without boiling (boiling will cause your coconut milk to split)
8. Finely slice your birds eye chilli and remaining lime leaf (you can roll it up into a long tube to make slicing easier).
9. Once your soup is hot, pour into bowls and top with some chilli and kaffir lime slices, coriander leaves and a drizzle of coconut milk and lime juice.
10. This recipe makes at least 6 servings and freezes very well for those times you need an instant meal.

Glutton

Frangipane and Fig Jam Tartlets

As the end of winter approaches and spring is beginning – so does the time for baking (at least in my house).

Following on from the delicious Fig Jam I made in March (see the Fig-tastic post), I decided to do a bit of early spring cleaning of my pantry; aka finding an excuse to bake delicious things (not that one ever really needs an excuse).

Using a Jamie Oliver recipe that a dear friend has adapted (thank you so much darling!) I made Frangipane and Fig Jam Tartlets. You could easily substitue any other high quality homemade jam/jelly.

Ingredients

• 6 small shortcrust pastry cases (pre-bought is fine)
• 1 large egg
• 100g almond meal
• 100g softened butter
• 90g caster sugar
• ½ orange, zested
• 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste (can substitute with essence)
• 170g good-quality fig jam

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius (I have a fan forced oven) 
2. Put the 6 pastry cases on a baking tray (lined with foil or wax paper)
3. To make the frangipane mixture - crack the egg into a mixing bowl and add the almond meal,  butter and caster sugar.
4. Grate over the zest of ½ an orange and add the vanilla bean paste
5. Mix together until combined
6. Spoon  2 teaspoons of jam into each pastry base
7. Top off with frangipane mixture (you can add a drop of jam on top to caramelize if desired)
8. Bake for 15 to18 minutes, until top of tartlets are light golden brown.

Notes

Ensure your oven is hot enough and has a consistent temperature (essential for baking) so that your tarts cook properly and within the suggested time frame (an in-oven thermometer is a great help for this).

If the tartlets don’t turn a light golden brown within 18min, you can continue to cook until 25min.
Don't be concerned if while cooling the center of the tartlets sinks - this is normal.

They will keep for up to five days in a closed container.

Serve warm or chilled - delicious anytime, anywhere.

Lush

Ice-cream Cookie Cups

Nothing better than turning on the heater to max, and eating ice-cream and cookies (even if it is winter). And what better way to enjoy both classic desserts than together.

YES – A cookie made into an ice-cream cup.

This recipe is inspired by the Family Fun Recipe and a friend of mine who made them for dinner one night when I was a guest.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter 
• 2/3 cup sugar 
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Cookie Dough Method

1. Mix the butter, and sugar in a large bowl (electric mixer is best)
2. Add egg and vanilla extract, mix until combined.
3. Sift in the salt, baking powder, and flour while mixing.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Half mix, shape into two flat discs, and wrap it in plastic. (Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours)

Cookie Cup Method

1. Heat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.
2. Using two 12 cup muffin tins – turn them upside down, and use the bottom side to shape cups.
3. Cover only half the bottoms with squares of aluminium foil (use every other cup so there's some space between them).
4. Grease the foil with a bit of butter
5. Unwrap 1 disk of dough, place it between 2 sheets of baking paper, and roll it out to a 1/3 cm thickness.
6. Cut out 10 cm diameter circles of dough and place each one over a cup bottom, smoothing out any cracks (do not push out or make them thinner).
7. Repeat with the other disk, rerolling and reusing any scraps.
8. Bake the cookie cups for 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown.
9. Let them cool for 10 minutes, and then remove the foil and cookies together from the muffin pan.
10. Peel off the foil and let the cups cool completely on a rack.

Makes 10 cups.

Then simply fill each cookie cup with a scoop of ice cream and enjoy!

Notes

I know what you are thinking – because I thought it too.
“All this rolling, refrigerating the dough – I could so just wing it instead”

Well – I wouldn’t – I tried to take shortcuts the first time and it was a disaster – I ended up with an upside down mass of cookie dough – not a single cup.

However – if this happens to you, you can salvage it in a way.

1. While the dough is still hot, gather it all and push into the bottom of a round cake tin.
2. Then when this cools, you have the perfect base for a free-form ice-cream cake
3. To make – simply top with ice-cream, sprinkle with chocolate flake and re-freeze (see the picture below of mine)

Lush

Healthy Nut Bars

After a couple of Birthday dinner celebrations and a long weekend of eating (and drinking) I have decided that I need to try to eat a bit healthier for a while. My biggest challenge is snacking on chocolate and chips, so I went on the hunt for a homemade muesli bar recipe (minus the sugar). I found a fantastic blog by a couple in Sweden who write about their healthy vegetarian diet. Although I am not vegetarian (as you would have guessed from the Lamb Blog), I don’t eat meat regularly and am glad to have found a site with plenty of salads and soups!

On Green Kitchen Stories these are called Sticky Nut Bars, but as mine didn’t turn out sticky I am just going to call them Healthy Nut Bars. I have changed the recipe from the original, based on what I had in the pantry. Let me know what flavours you try!

Ingredients
10 fresh dates (try substituting 15 dried dates soaked in water for an hour)
2 tbsp water
2/3 cup organic peanut butter
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup cashew nuts
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 tsp salt

Method
1. Line a lamington pan with baking paper
2. In a saucepan, combine dates, water and peanut butter over a low heat
3. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. The mixture should be quite tacky. Add more nuts if the mixture is too moist or some more water if it is too dry
4. Pour the mixture in the pan, pressing down to an even height
5. Refrigerate for half an hour, before cutting into squares before serving.
6. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge

Glutton

Hot Apple Juice

It's winter and it's cold; the season for mulled wine, hot cider and whisky by a warm fire. But what about those times when a non-alcoholic choice is required?
On a recent weekend away to Hobart, Lush and I discovered that a mug of hot apple juice is a great morning tea drink for wandering Salamanca Market. We had ours with a touch of cinnamon, but you could add ginger for a healthy boost.

My version is below, I added some sugar as my juice was a bit sour. This is really a recipe of personal taste, so feel free to tweak away!

Ingredients
1 cup apple juice
1 cinnamon quill
1 tsp brown sugar

Method
1. Put all ingredients in a saucepan and cover with a lid
2. Over a low heat, bring the mixture slowly to a boil
3. Pour into a mug and enjoy

The longer you let it infuse the stronger the spice flavour will come through.

Glutton

Fried Chicken & Coleslaw

I have so many horrid memories of coleslaw; mainly due to my childhood dislike of mayonnaise (oh, how times have changed!). From the overly dressed, flaccid lump of cabbage and carrot in Singapore's faux-American restaurants (looking at you Denny's) to making bucket loads with my mum for a BBQ we were having. In her defense, there were over a hundred people expected, but I hope to never again serve anything from a yellow, plastic bucket.

In spite of the scars from my younger years, I have been caught up by the current Melbourne obsession with Mexican and American food. And although Lush did actually grow up living (and eating) the American
dream I have decided to be the first to bring Team-USA to our blog.

This is a great weeknight meal when you're having friends over. Messy food and eating with your hands is always great way to ensure the night stays casual and relaxed. The chicken wasn't as KFC tasting as I
would have liked so I have upped the spices in the recipe below. If you would like some further inspiration, I am a big fan of Homesick Texan.

Ingredients:

For the Chicken
150g plain flour
4tsp paprika
125ml buttermilk
1kg chicken pieces (your choice of which cut)
Vegetable oil for deep frying

For the Coleslaw
200g sour cream
150g mayonnaise
2tsp apple cider
2tsp white sugar
1tsp dijon mustard
1/4 white cabbage, shredded
1/4 red cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, grated
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
1 apple, grated (if you like a bit of sweetness)

Method:

• Whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar & mustard (I use a jar to shake & combine)
• Toss all coleslaw ingredients together and season.
• Combine flour & spices on a plate and pour buttermilk into a bowl. Coat flour in buttermilk followed by flour and shake off excess.
• Heat oil for deep frying (170 or when bread dropped in turns golden after 15 seconds).
• Working in batches, drop chicken into oil (don't let it splash!) and fry on each side for 10mins or until golden. Drain before serving.

Glutton

Hot Cross Buns

Over the Easter break, we were lucky enough to go away with a few close friends, one of whom was kind enough to share his Hot Cross Bun Recipe.

 One of my favourite parts of Easter is enjoying hot cross buns for breakfast or an afternoon snack. I usually stock up on a few packs and freeze them at the end of Easter so I can enjoy them for a couple of weeks after the Easter weekend, but a year or so ago I decided to try my hand at making my own so I could enjoy them as long as I want. I was surprised to find they're not quite as difficult to make as I was expecting.

Following is the recipe from my most recent batch. I find that with every making it evolves slightly, with additional spices and fruit or slightly different ratios. Don't be afraid to experiment yourself, and post back any suggestions in the comments!

Ingredients:

For the buns
1/3 cup castor sugar
2 x 8g sachets dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm milk (about 45C is ideal for yeast)
600g plain flour
a pinch of salt
2 tsp ground nutmeg
4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp mixed spice
60g butter, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
2/3 cup currants
1 1/2 cup sultanas
Freshly grated orange zest (to taste)

For the cross paste
1/2 cup plain flour
2 tsp castor sugar
water

For the glaze
1 tbsp water
1 tsp gelatin powder
1 tbsp castor sugarMethod:

Method:

For the buns

Combine sugar, yeast and milk in a bowl, stir until sugar is almost dissolved, and rest covered in a warm place for about 10 minutes or until frothy. I find the yeast mixture is normally ready by the time I've completed the next two steps.

Lightly coat the currants and sultanas in flour (this isn't critical, but makes it easier to get the fruit to spread evenly through your dough).

Sift flour, salt and spices into a large bowl (a 5 litre ice cream bucket is quite handy because the mixture ends up quite large) and rub butter into flour mixture with fingertips. The butter and flour should be well combined and an even texture.

Stir in yeast mixture, egg, peel, currants and sultanas until well combined.

Cover and rest in a warm place for about 45 minutes or until mixture has doubled in size.

Pre-heat oven to 220C.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. You might need to sprinkle more flour over the dough and surface as you go, depending how sticky it is (a tea strainer is useful for this). This is a helpful video if you haven't kneaded before.

Divide dough into 16 even pieces and roll into balls. To keep them an even size, it helps to halve the dough, then continuing halving three more times until you have 16 pieces.

Place balls on a baking tray lined with baking paper. The balls should be about 1 cm apart as they support each other when they rise. Rest covered for 10-15 minutes to allow the balls to rise while you make the cross paste.

For the cross paste

While the buns are rising, put together the mixture for the cross paste. Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl and mix with water until you have a smooth paste consistency. The paste should be reasonably thick so the crosses don't run down the side of the buns.

Using a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle (or a snaplock bag with the corner snipped off), pipe crosses onto the buns.

Bake for 20 minutes or until browned.

For the glaze

Dissolve gelatin in a small amount of water (see this link for a lump free way of dissolving gelatin - patience is a key ingredient to avoid lumps). Add castor sugar and a small amount of boiling water. Stir to dissolve.

While hot, brush buns with warm glaze then allow to cool on rack.

Enjoy toasted and slathered with butter!

DJ