I told myself that this year was going to be the year I baked more from my bookmarks. So far, it’s been a pretty successful resolution, though I have yet to make the chocolate wine (!) or lychee cake I’ve been eyeing for so long.

After making cookie versions of hot cross buns, I finally found some time to bake the real thing. Since I was in search of a new hot cross bun recipe to try, it was also the perfect opportunity to utilise my bookmarks. I made batches of two different recipes and was very happy with the results from both. B preferred the Baker & Spice recipe because theirs is pretty heavy in fruit and spice. Even though I am all about the fruit and spices in hot cross buns, there’s something about Bron Marshall’s recipe that makes me want to bake it again (maybe with a bit more fruit in it), so for me, hers wins by a whisker.

You can find the recipe for Bron Marshall’s Hot Cross Buns here. However, if Easter buns don’t float your boat, can I suggest something a little different. Something also from my bookmark folder, which is as much about brown sugar and spice (and everything nice) as the buns above.

This lovely cakey version of Lebkuchen comes from Pastry Studio. The original recipe is here, but I’m including my version of the recipe because I made a few changes based on what I had in my kitchen, and also weighed everything so that I would have a record of this recipe metric form for future reference. (Yes, I will be making it again!)

Lebkuchen Cake :
(serves 8; from Pastry Studio)

165g plain flour
45g hazelnuts
45g almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
170g unsalted butter @ room temperature
165g brown sugar
2 eggs @ room temperature
2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon cognac or brandy [I used Kahlua]
1 1/2 teaspoons candied orange peel, very finely chopped
1 teaspoon candied lemon peel, very finely chopped [I didn’t have candied peel handy, so I used 2 teaspoons candied ginger and 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest]

Chocolate Glaze :

170g bittersweet chocolate [70% Lindt]
230g thickened cream (35% fat)
1 tablespoon honey

Preheat the oven to 176’C. Brush an 8-inch cake pan with butter and line the bottom with a parchment round. Butter the parchment and dust the bottom and sides with flour.

Place the flour, almonds, hazelnuts, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a food processor. Process a couple of minutes until the nuts are very finely ground into the flour. Pour into a bowl.

Beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and cream the mixture on medium speed until pale, light and very fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly before adding the next and scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the honey, cognac, orange and lemon peel. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the nut flour by hand in three batches, mixing just enough to moisten and blend. The batter will be quite thick. Scrape into the prepared cake pan and smooth out the top.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 26 – 28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a thin blade knife around the cake to loosen and invert. Flip the cake back over to right side up and cool completely.

To glaze the cake, place the cooled cake on a an 8″ cardboard round or removable tart pan bottom. Return the cake to the cooling rack and place over a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Chop the chocolate into very small pieces and place in a medium bowl.
Bring cream and honey or corn syrup to a boil, stirring to dissolve. Pour over chocolate and let stand a couple of minutes. Whisk slowly and gently starting in the middle and then working outward in concentric circles until completely combined.

Glaze the cake, pouring quickly in the center and around the edges. Tap the baking sheet on the work surface to encourage the glaze to run down the sides if necessary. Just as it begins to dry, run a small spatula around the underside of the cake to smooth the bottom edge and prevent “feet” from forming. Let glaze dry before serving.

(PS: If you are an Australian foodblogger, you might be interested in signing up for the Australian Foodbloggers Group that Reemski has started. Her goal is to create an Australian version of the International Foodbloggers Conference currently being held in Seattle. I have signed up in support, and also think it is a great way to get to know more about the Australian food blogs and bloggers out there that I have yet to stumble across.)

I feel I owe apologies to a lot of people, of late.

Firstly, to my neighbour, who complained to me about my constant ‘loud walking’. (I suppose it didn’t help that a couple of days ago, B and I ran whooping around the coffee table, to celebrate Macheda’s goal in the final minutes of stoppage time during the Man U vs Aston Villa match).

Sorry to my dear friend M for cancelling our lunch date, on account of my cold. An equally heartfelt sorry to my mom for missing out on a lunch with her, due to the same cold.

Sorry also to the lonely packet of figs that had been lying untouched in my fridge for over a week, and sorry to myself, for wasting valuable money buying food I didn’t need. (Situation now rectified, as pictured above)

Finally, apologies to everyone who has been hounding me for the banoffee teacake recipe. I hadn’t really forgotten, honest. Well, maybe a little. I made some bite sized ones recently, which I think are more fun to serve to friends. Definitely didn’t forget the recipe this time, so hopefully all is forgiven!

Mini Banoffee Teacakes :

Caramel :
(This caramel is essentially the filling you get in a caramel slice, but baked without the biscuit base. The total yield is more than you will require for 20 mini banoffee teacakes, but I find the leftover caramel useful for all sorts of things – as a macaron or cake filling, or even spread on toast, if you are that way inclined. You can skip this step and use dulce de leche instead, if you have it.)

40g unsalted butter
50g golden syrup
325g sweetened condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 125’C.

Place all ingredients in a pot. Heat on a medium-low flame, until completely melted and homogenous. Stir gently while heating with a spatula to prevent the mixture from catching. Pour into a baking dish or baking ramekin roughly 12 x 18 x 3cm in size. Bake for 15 – 17 minutes until the caramel mixture sets. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before using. You can make this ahead and store it in the fridge until required.

Teacakes :
(makes 20 mini-muffin-sized cakes; recipe by Tartlette)
67g caster sugar
2 large eggs
56.5g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
58gr sour cream
62.5g plain flour

Preheat the oven to 176’C. Grease mini muffin tin well.

In a stand mixer, whisk together the eggs and sugar until pale and thick, about 2 – 3 minutes. Add the butter and sour cream. Whisk well and then fold in the sifted flour. Divide the mixture evenly between the holes of the muffin tin. The mixture should come up to about 3/4 of the way up each hole. (Tip : Use a measuring tablespoon to scoop the mix)

Bake for 8 – 9 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle of a teacake comes out clean. Allow to cool on wire rack then remove each cake carefully with a small spatula. (Tip : If you do not have a big enough mini muffin tin, you can bake this in batches.)

To assemble :

1 medium banana
200g whipped cream
dark chocolate shavings or curls, to garnish

Slice the banana into thin rounds. Place a slice on each teacake. Fill a piping bag with the caramel. Pipe about 1 teaspoon-worth of caramel on top of the banana. Pipe whipped cream on top and decorate with chocolate shavings.

For most kids, Easter usually means school holidays, trips to the Royal Easter Show, swapping chocolate eggs with friends, and eating countless hot cross buns. I was certainly one of those kids, but these days I like to bake my own hot cross buns.

So far, I haven’t managed to do that this year. Not from lack of wanting to, mind you. I’ve just been a little busy with this and that. So a few days ago while I was making some chocolate cookie dough, it occured to me that I could rectify my hot cross bun-less situation.

The dough ended up being made into these caramel and chestnut cookies, but I also saved some dough scraps which I then added some raisins to, rolled out again and cut as rounds. Once baked, I piped crosses over the top of each cookie, using royal icing, and sandwiched them between vanilla ice-cream flavoured with lots of nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon (since I like my hot cross buns spicy).

I’m quoting the recipe for the basic chocolate cookie dough below, because it’s a handy one to have. As Fran Bigelow says in her cookbook, it is a very versatile dough which you can use not just for cookies, but also as a tart shell. I can imagine them being used to sandwich some salty caramel ganache, or mint flavoured buttercream or even fashioned into homemade Oreos somehow. In the meantime, I’m happy to have some Easter fare to enjoy.

Hot-Cross-Bun-Ice-Cream-Cookie-Sandwiches? Takes ten minutes to pronounce, I know, but only two seconds to scoff down.

Chocolate wafers :
(makes 24 cookies; recipe from Pure Chocolate by Fran Bigelow)

170g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup dark Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes.

Add the cocoa powder and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.

Add the egg and vanilla and blend thoroughly, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl. Add the flour. Mix on low speed until the dough begins to hold together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 4 hours or overnight.

To bake, position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 162’C. Line a cookie sheet or two with parchment paper of Silpats.

Working quickly, on a lightly floured surface roll half the dough into a 12 x 12 inch square, about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 3 1/4 inch round cookie cutter, cut out about 12 cookies. With a metal spatula, transfer to a lined cookie sheet. Pierce each cookie with the tines of a fork several times. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until slightly dull on top. [Note : Mine were a little thicker and took slightly longer to bake] Transfer to racks to cool. They will crisp as they cool.

Repeat with the remaining dough, gathering the scraps together and gently kneading into a second batch. Store in an airtight container as long as 1 week.