ginger beer

I've wanted to make ginger beer for ages. Something to drink when every one else is drinking proper grown up drinks which I mostly avoid because for a whole lot of boring reasons I am a very cheap drunk. There are lots of recipes out there for ginger beer - I cobbled this one together based on what I read, the equipment I have and what makes sense to me. It's still a work in progress but comes out very drinkable most of the time. Don't be tempted to add more yeast for more fizz - I ended up with some bottles on the back step that brewed for two weeks and by the end they were quite alcoholic and very nasty tasting. The best batches taste like a designer ginger beer with a very smooth mouth feel. Some have said it is a little sweet and my dad has said that it's not fizzy enough but others have said it is very good. I think this ginger beer tastes best after it has been in the fridge for about a week. However I've read some accounts that say to keep homemade ginger beer no longer than 3 days. So like you know, all care and no responsibility. But I certainly haven't suffered any ill effects from leaving it longer. I use 2lt plastic orange juice or smaller soft drink bottles which means that the pressure can build with no risk of a dangerous explosion.  It is also very mildly alcoholic.



You will need
Preserving pan, saucepan or other receptacle with a lid and at least 3lt capacity
4 x 2lt plastic orange juice bottles or similar
4 cups white sugar
6 tablespoons of finely sliced ginger
1 scant teaspoon dried yeast
juice and some zest of 4 big lemons (use more lemons if they are small)
water
sultanas or sugar

Stage one

• Place the ginger, lemon juice zest and sugar in recptacle of choice (I use my jamming pan). 
• Add some water and cook until sugar is dissolved. 
• Allow to sit for a while after coming off the heat - this will lead to a stronger ginger taste. 
• Add enough cold water to bring the temperature down to tepid. 
• Add the yeast and stir. 
• Cover with lid and leave somewhere for about 24 hours or until there is good yeast activity - the top will bubble a bit.

Stage two

• Strain the mix. I use a colander and then a fine strainer. 
• Divide between the four bottles and add cold water leaving a little room at the top of the bottle. 
• Add a teaspoon of sugar (I use brown sugar at this point for the colour but it doesn't matter) or a couple of sultanas. 
• Screw the lids on tightly and put on a shelf somewhere. This is when the yeast action together with the pressure of a closed lid will cause carbonation. I've found it takes a bout a day and that the bottle will be bulging. 
• At this point pop the bottles in the fridge to slow the process down and chill for drinking. The ginger beer is ready to drink at this point but will taste even better in a few days.

lemon and lime cheesecake

I do love an unbaked cheesecake. Made with cream cheese, cream and gelatine. And a crushed biscuit crust. Part of me feels like I should like the baked cheesecake more, but I really do prefer a well made unbaked cheesecake. Something to do with the creamy, slightly wobbly texture. Trashy but oh so nice. I don't tend to make them very often as they are not vegetarian due to the gelatine.

The success of this recipe depends on beating the cream cheese until it is very smooth before adding anything other than a little lemon or lime juice. And in getting the balance between the sugar and citrus right. I like to hover on the edge of danger here, but others around me prefer it if it isn't too lemony.

Crust

• I x 250g packet of arnotts ginger nut snaps (not plain brand)
• 125g of melted butter

I crush my biscuits inside a cloth bad with a rolling pin, but if you have a food processor, that would make it a whole lot easier. Just don't crush them too fine. Or your crust won't have texture. Stir in the melted butter. Place a piece of baking paper on the bottom of a spring form cake tin and clip together. Brush all around with oil or melted butter. Press biscuit mixture into tin and press down, including right into the corners with the back of a spoon. Place in fridge while you make the filling.

Filling

• 2 x 250g blocks of Philadelphia (or similar) cream cheese softened (back in the day when we had a microwave, I would cut it into chunks and zap briefly).
• 200ml pure cream
• 1 tablespoon of gelatine dissolved in 1/2 cup of boiling water and cooled
• 3/4 caster sugar (I have used plain white sugar and it works fine, you just have to beat it for longer. Brown sugar would also work fine and taste lovely but I quite like the pale colour of this cheesecake)
• the juice of 3 or 4 lemons and or limes, strained.

Beat the cream cheese in an electric beater until there are no lumps. If the cream cheese is a little hard, adding a small amount of the lemon juice will help. Add most of the remaining lemon/lime juice, the sugar and the gelatine and beat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cream and mix gently. Taste for citrus/sugar balance. Add more citrus and/or sugar if necessary. When you're happy with the taste, beat the mixture on high speed until soft peaks form. Fill the crust, nearly to the top, and place back in fridge. The cheesecake will be ready to eat the next day. If there is any filling left over, place in a small bowl and have as a secret snack later that night. Yum.

To serve, run a knife around the edge of the tin and loosen the outside. The cheesecake should be easy to pick up with the baking paper. The baking paper will peel back easily once a cake slide or spatula is placed under the cake.

lemon slice

I'd forgotten how nice lemon slice could be. Especially when made with homegrown lemons picked straight from the tree. Mmmm. The scent of fresh lemons. Lemon oil on your hands. For me the key to this recipe is the huge amount of lemon zest. The original Women's Weekly recipe had just one teapoon. I've doubled the original recipe, because what would one do with a leftover half tin of condensed milk anyway?* The doubled recipe makes enough to take for morning tea at work and some for home. Or for a good showing at a cake stall. And it contains three table spoons of lemon zest which in my view adds a certain excitement.

You will need:
For the slice
1 cup (or tin) of sweetened condensed milk
250g butter
500g Marie biscuits (2 packets)
3 tablespoons grated/zested/finely chopped lemon rind with no pith attached. I use a sharp vegetable peeler and then chop with a knife
2 cups dessicated coconut
For the icing
3 1/2 cups of icing sugar
6 tablespoons of strained lemon juice
30g butter
coconut to put on top (if I have it I used the standed or flaked one here)
To make
Wash lemons and prepare lemon zest.
Crush Marie biscuits. I don't have a food processor so I place the biscuits in two plastic bags and bash and roll with the rolling pin. This is how my mum did it when I was a kid. But a food processor is also quite effective, just don't over process. Some lumps are good for texture here.
Mix biscuit crumbs, lemon zest and coconut.
Melt butter and condensed milk together. Stir and add to the dry mix. Combine well.
Line a big roasting or slice tray(s) with baking paper. Pour in slice mix. Place a piece of baking paper over the top and press down with hands. Then use a flat sided glass to roll out and compress well. Place in fridge.
Juice enough lemons to provide 6 tablespoons of strained juice.
Melt butter.
Mix juice butter and icing sugar together until it has a smooth consistency.
Ice the slice and sprinkle with coconut. Press down gently with that bit of baking paper from before.
Refrigerate overnight and then lift out of pan and cut into small(ish) squares with a big knife.
* I know, I know. One could eat half a tin of condensed milk. Or let your child eat it. Or fight the cat for it. Or turn it into lemon cheesecake mix and repeat as before.

Lemon tart

I love lemon tart and it's quite easy to make. I use a tart tin with a removable base; the wider, flatter tin if the tart has to be served soon after baking or is serving lots of people. But I think the deeper tin gives a nicer result with a higher ratio of curd to pastry. The lemon curd filling I use is pretty much as described in the Cook's Companion. The pastry is super easy, indeed it's not even proper pastry, it's a biscuit crust. I usually make the larger quantity and freeze what I'm not using. Then when I need to make a tart, break off a piece, whack it in the microwave to soften and then press it into the tart tin. However, I've recently realised that if you like a crisp pastry, the filling needs to be added while it's still warm. Either straight out of the oven or baked the day before and warmed up (I'm pretty sure that would work, my theory being that the lemon curd starts to cook quicker and not soak into the pastry if it's already warm).

First, make the base as described here. Then for the filling, you will need:

3 large (or up to six small) lemons
6 eggs
250g casor sugar
200 ml pure cream

1. Preheat oven to 160 C
2. Wash the lemons in warm soapy water, rinse and dry well. This is really important if the lemons have supermarket wax on them. Less so if they're from a tree out the back.
3. Peel the zest (ie the yellow part of the skin) from the lemons being careful not to get any of the white pith. If you do get some pith, cut it out because it's yucky and will add bitterness rather than zing. I use a sharp potato/vegetable peeler with light strokes. It's tedious but worth it.
4. Chop the lemon rind into pieces and then grind them very finely with some of the caster sugar. I have an old electric coffee grinder that I use for this. A food processor or bamix nut grinder works just as well. If you have neither, then chop the lemon rind as fine as you can with a knife. I dislike pieces of rind in lemon tart, so this is an important step for me.
5. Juice lemons and strain the pips and pulp out.
6. Mix juice, lemon rind, sugar, eggs and cream in a big bowl with a ballon whisk or similar. It doesn't have to be beaten, just really well combined.
7. Taste for sweet/sour balance and add a little more sugar or lemon juice if necessary. I like my lemon tart to hover on the edge of sour and if it tastes just a little sweeter than I'd like raw, it will usually be just right after baking. That said, if I'm baking for people I don't know or for a big group, I might make the filling a teensy bit sweeter than I'd really prefer. G likes it better this way too.
8. Place the warm baked tart tin on a tray in the oven and pour the filling into the case. When I remember I do this step with the tart base pretty much the oven to stop having to carry it across the kitchen.
9. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until almost set. Allow to cool for about half an hour before serving or it will fall apart. Yummo.

golden syrup dumplings

I adore these. They remind me of my childhood in the best possible way. We also made them at the cafe during winter and they were a bit of a hit; some people coming in especially on the days they were on. Which I think is a bit odd, because they are super easy to make and really best freshly cooked (although I do like them cold for breakfast, another childhood memory). G on the other hand, thinks they are horrid and a perfect illustration of bad anglo/australian cooking. Maybe it's the lemon. For me they have to be lemony.

It's really a boiled scone recipe and like with scones, it's important not to overhandle them. Quick and light is the way to do it.

Ingredients

For the dumplings
I cup white self-raising flour
pinch of salt
about 50 g butter
about 1/4 cup of half milk, half water

For the syrup
1/2 a cup of sugar
3/4 cup of golden syrup
juice of one reasonable sized lemon
2 cups of water

To make the dumplings

1. Chop the butter into small pieces and rub into flour and salt, lifting to aerate. Don't worry if tt's not compltely even.
2. Make a well in the centre of the mix and add in the milk/water mixing with a knife as you go, until you have a medium consistency scone like dough.
3. Knead very lightly and briefly in the bowl. Just enough to make the mixture cohere.
4. Roll into balls the size of a twenty cent piece (but round). The balls need to be reasonably smooth and well stuck together. Sit on a plate while you make the syrup.

To cook and serve

1. Bring the syrup ingredients to a slow boil in a medium size saucepan.
2. Drop balls into boiling syrup one at a time. They will puff up and double in size quite quickly.
3. Don't overcrowd them, I usually cook the dumplings in two batches, adding a little extra water to the second batch.
4. Move gently with a spoon to make sure they don't stick together.
5. Cook for three to four minutes or until they are done in the middle.
6. If you are not serving them straight away, store the dumplings on a tray and the remaining syrup in a separate container. They reheat pretty well in the microwave.
7. Serve 2 or 3 per person with a little extra syrup, warm and with cream or icecream. I like either and it's hard to pick which one, but unlike some in my family, I think cream and icecream together is an abomination. I tend to go with the icecream here. Hot, cold. Very sweet.

Lemon Butter

 
I like my lemon butter to hover on a knife edge between sweet and sour. I want a double take with each mouthful, followed by a smooth butteriness. It won't last long, it should be exciting!

The secret to nicely smooth lemon butter is to use a double boiler. I use a metal mixing bowl that fits snugly into the pasta pot half filled with gently boiling water. I still need to be careful not to let the mixture boil and curdle, but it's not as scary as cooking it directly on the stove.

You will need
three medium jars or an assortment of smaller jars
cellophane jam covers
4-7 lemons depending on size
6 eggs
350g white sugar
200g butter

To make

1. Wash and rinse jars well and place on a tray in a gentle oven to dry out.
2. Scrape the rind off the lemons using a vegetable peeler, trying to get as little pith as possible. Either chop the rind finely with a knife or place in a food processor with some of the sugar. 
3. Juice the lemons. 
4. Place the juice, sugar and rind in a saucepan and cook until the sugar has dissolved. Taste for acid/sugar balance. Adjust if necessary.
5. Add the butter and heat until butter melts. Strain and return to saucepan.
6. In the bowl you will be using atop the double boiler, whisk the eggs thoroughly. Slowly dribble the sugar/lemon/butter mixture in, whisking the whole time.
7. Place on top of double boiler and cook without boiling, stirring or whisking constantly. When the mixture has thickened so that it will thickly coat the back of a spoon, remove from heat.
8. Using a jug, pour into prepared jars and seal with wetted cellophane and elastic bands.

Yo-Yos

 

My mum is a legendary yo-yo maker and she has very definite ideas on the perfect yo-yo. It should not be browned, lemon icing is a must. I prefer my yo-yos to be very crisp. In my oven this means that some will be a bit brown and some will be a perfect color and very crisp. I've promised to ice some with chocolate icing next time I make them because G is a chocolate, as opposed to lemon, sort of guy.

They definitely use a lot of butter which I think is what makes them so nice. However if butter is not your thing, I've heard they can be made with margarine. My mother's original recipe calls for 12oz butter, 4oz icing sugar, 4oz custard powder, 12 oz plain flour. That's an awful lot of butter to make into a form of biscuit that will probably get eaten rather quickly. Unless baking for sale or gifts, I wouldn't make too many at once.

You will need

250g butter at room temperature
80g icing sugar
80g custard powder
250g plain flour

juice of about half a lemon
about a cup of icing sugar
a piece of butter the size of two peas

To make

1. Cream the butter and icing sugar until it is very pale and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl several times.


2. On a low speed, add custard powder an half the flour. When that is well combined, add the rest of the flour gradually. Sometimes you won't need all the flour, flours vary a bit. The dough should come together easily into a ball without being sticky.


3. Turn the dough out onto a board and gently press into a ball. Shapes into a flat squarish shape.Cut into four and then cut each square into eight. Roll each little sqare into a ball and place on the baking sheet. When all are done, press into each biscuit with the tines of a fork dipped in flour.


4. Bake for approximately 15 minutes at 170C. Rotate trays at the seven minute mark. Keep a close eye on them at the end. They are done just before they begin to brown, or when the end ones are starting to colour. Remove from oven and leave to cool on the trays (protect from marauding cats).

To finish

1. Make the lemon icing by mixing the juice of half a lemon, the little nob of melted butter and the icing sugar into a thick paste.


2. Match each biscuit with another the same size and doneness. Sandwich together with lemon icing. Allow to set before handling or eating.