Peanut butter cookies

I went to the movies yesterday and it got me thinking about something: I usually consider myself a very impatient person and maybe I no longer should – after all, I saw a movie I’d been meaning to watch for almost a year. :)

I continue exercising my patient side: while the latest issue of my favorite food magazine doesn’t arrive – and for what I’ve seen on the website I’m gonna love it – I make recipes from the old issues.

Peanut butter cookies
from Donna Hay magazine

100g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (140g) crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups (218g) light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 ¼ cups + 1 tablespoon (185g) all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup (100g) demerara sugar, for rolling

Preheat the oven to 180°C; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Place the butter, peanut butter, vanilla and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes or until well combined. Add the egg and beat for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Sift the flour and baking soda over the mixture and beat in low speed until a smooth dough forms*. Roll one leveled tablespoon of dough into a ball at a time and roll in demerara sugar. Place on prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden. Allow to cool on wire racks.

* the dough was too soft, so I added ¼ cup (35g) all purpose flour and it worked perfectly

Makes 24 – I got 37

Lime macarons

I know I’ll sound like a broken record, but once again the feeling of time flying has hit me hard – I knew I’d promise you another batch of macarons, but I almost fell off my chair when I saw that it was a year and a half ago...

I used the same recipe and tweaked the filling a little bit, but the macarons did not turn out as cute as I’d expected. But that’s fine – next time, I’ll used one of Julia’s wonderful recipes and hope my macarons turn as gorgeous as hers.

Lime macarons

50g ground almonds
1 cup (140g) icing sugar
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon caster sugar
green food coloring paste

Lime white chocolate ganache:
¾ cup (116g) chopped white chocolate
¼ cup (60ml) cream
finely grated zest of 1 lime
1 teaspoon lime juice

Start by making the macarons: grab two large pieces of baking paper and, using a cookie cutter, trace 4cm-circles, 3cm apart from each other, all over the paper. Turn the paper sheets around and line 2 large baking trays with them.
Sieve the ground almonds and icing sugar together into a large bowl. Put the egg whites into a separate bowl, and using an electric hand whisk, beat to soft peaks. Add the caster sugar, and whisk until glossy. Fold into the almond and icing sugar mixture, along with a very small amount of the food coloring – it’s easier to use a toothpick to remove coloring from the bottle. Mix until just combined and evenly green – the mixture will reduce as the air bubbles in the meringue burst.
Put the mixture into a disposable piping bag, snip off 1cm from the end. Pipe blobs onto the circles on the baking paper so you have about 28-30 in total. Set aside for 30 minutes to dry – this is important as it gives the macaroons the correct texture.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Bake for 5 minutes, then turn the baking sheet and bake for another 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.

Make the filling: pour the cream in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Remove from heat, add chocolate and mix vigorously until chocolate is melted and ganache is smooth. Add lime zest and juice and mix well to combine. Set aside to cool until firm enough to be piped or spooned between macarons shells.

Carefully peel off the baking paper from the macaroons, then sandwich 2 together with a blob of lime ganache in the center. Repeat to give you 14-15 in total.

Store the macaroons in an airtight container for up to 3 days – I kept mine in the fridge.

Makes about 15

Pecan and maple friands

Unlike walnuts, which were an acquired taste, pecans were love at first bite – I instantly became a fan of their sweet and delicate flavor.

These friands were delicious and I loved the pecans paired with maple syrup – they work really well together. Now I have got to try them together in ice cream form, too... Yum! :)

Pecan and maple friands
from here

1 cup (110g) pecan halves
6 egg whites, lightly whisked
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (184g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 2/3 cups (233g) icing sugar, sifted
½ cup + ½ tablespoon (75g) all purpose flour, sifted
2 tablespoons maple syrup
10 pecan halves, extra
1 tablespoon maple syrup, extra, to serve

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; brush ten ½ cup (120ml) capacity oval friand pans with melted butter to lightly grease.
Place pecans in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl and add the egg whites, butter, icing sugar, flour and maple syrup. Stir until well combined.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared pans. Top each with a pecan half. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.
Serve brushed with a little extra maple syrup.

Makes 10 – I halved the recipe above, used 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity muffins pans and got 8

Mini meringues with boozy cherries and orange cream

Some people say – and several of them are from my family – that the best things in life are the simple ones. As much as I hate agreeing with my grandmother – and she knows that – this orange cream is a good example: ridiculously simple, but it has got to be one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. In 31 years of existence. :)

The original recipe called for fresh cranberries, but I can’t get hold of them here in Brazil – the wonderful, plump dried cherries I got from a lovely friend replaced them beautifully.

Mini meringues with boozy cherries and orange cream
adapted from Delicious magazine

Meringues:
400g caster sugar
200g (about 5 large) free-range egg whites

Topping:
about ½ cup (72g) dried cherries*
3 tablespoons vodka
40g caster sugar
600ml heavy (whipping) cream
2 tablespoons icing sugar, sifted
1-2 tablespoons orange flower water, to taste
Handful unsalted shelled pistachios, chopped

Preheat the oven to 220°C/428°F. Spread the sugar evenly over a shallow baking tray, lined with baking paper, and place in the oven for about 10 minutes until really hot.

Place the egg whites in an electric mixer fitted with a whisk. Whisk on high speed until the whites begin to froth, then gradually pour in the hot sugar. Continue whisking on a high speed for 10 minutes until the meringue is beautifully silky and holds its shape.
Reduce the temperature to 110°C/230°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper - stick the baking paper to the baking sheets with a little meringue.
Fill a piping bag with the meringue and pipe golf ball-size rounds on to the baking sheet – I used two small spoons to shape the meringues and made them a little bigger. Have a bowl of water nearby; dip a teaspoon in the water and use the back of it to create a nest shape. Repeat, spaced apart – you should get about 60 mini meringues.
Bake the mini meringues for 1 hour, or until crisp to touch. Turn off the oven and leave inside to cool completely.
Gently heat the cherries, vodka and caster sugar in a small pan for 3-5 minutes until the sugar is dissolved and the cherries plump up a bit. Cool a little. In a bowl, whip the cream, icing sugar and orange flower water, to taste, to soft peaks.
To assemble: place the meringues on serving plates, and spoon a small dollop of orange cream onto each one. Spoon a boozy cherry and a little syrup over the top, then sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

* the amount of cherries will depend on the number of meringues you end up with, since there has to be one cherry to top each mini pavlova

Makes 60 – I made ¼ of the recipe above, used two spoons to shape the meringues (instead of a piping bag) and got 8 mini pavlovas

Watermelon salad with rose and mint syrup

I should be ashamed for calling this a recipe, but the result is so good I had to share it with you; not to mention that after almost five days of Carnival (and food, and booze) I was in desperate need of something fresh.

Watermelon salad with rose and mint syrup
from Australian Gourmet Traveller

500g watermelon flesh
2/3 cup (133g) caster sugar
¼ cup (loosely packed) mint leaves
2 teaspoons rosewater

Combine sugar and ¼ cup (60ml) water in a small saucepan and stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Add mint and rosewater, remove from heat, cool completely and strain, discarding solids. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To serve, using a melon baller, scoop watermelon into balls and divide among serving bowls. Drizzle with rose and mint syrup and serve immediately.

Serves 6