Sue Zann Toh

Ingredients

• 360 g (1 cup) honey
• 250 mL (1 cup) pouring cream
• 250 g (2½ cup) walnuts, roasted
• Finely grated rind of 1 orange

Instructions

1. Combine walnuts and orange rind in a bowl.
2. Heat honey and cream over medium heat. Bring to boil, reduce heat and cook for 20 minutes or until it reaches 121 degrees celsius on a sugar thermometer.
3. Pour over walnuts and stir to combine.
4. Place tablespoons of mixture on a lightly oiled oven tray.
5. Fridge until set.
6. Store in the fridge in air tight containers between layers of baking paper.

Doesn’t the name of the muffins make you start drooling?

I don’t usually remember cooking recipes I watched on television, but Ainsley Harriot’s Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins caught my eye on Saturday afternoon and I’ve been dying to give them a go.

I love watching Ainsley, he’s so energetic and oh-so-camp, something very different amongst all the other cooks on TV. He brings a smile to my face and I enjoy watching him at work.

Anyway, onto the recipe…

Ingredients

• 300 g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 150 g golden caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 225 ml milk
• 50 g butter, melted
• 100 g fresh raspberries
• 75 g chopped white chocolate

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Cut parchment or greaseproof paper into 8 x 15 cm (6 in) circles and push, creasing the paper to fit, into a muffin tin.
3. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and stir in the sugar.
4. Crack the egg into a separate bowl and whisk in the vanilla extract, milk and melted butter.
5. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients, taking care not to over-mix.
6. Gently fold in raspberries and white chocolate.
7. Spoon the mixture into the parchment cases and bake for about 15-20 minutes until well risen and just firm.

Tips and Hints

It’s really important not to over-mix the basic muffin batter. 10 to 15 strokes should be sufficient to combine the wet and dry ingredients without over-mixing.

Save a few raspberries and a few pieces of white chocolate to top off the muffins. Once the batter is spooned into the lined muffin tray, gently push in the raspberry and white chocolate pieces.

A tasty warm dessert perfect for a cold winter’s day. The hardest part of this dessert is peeling and cutting the pineapple, the second hardest is sharing with family and friends.

This baked pineapple recipe serves 4 as dessert.

Ingredients

• 600 g pineapple
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 teaspoon brown sugar
• ½ cup water
• 4 tablespoons vanilla yoghurt or ice cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
2. Peel and cut pineapple into chunks.
3. In a baking dish, add the cinnamon sticks and water and top with the pineapple chunks, then sprinkle the brown sugar on top.
4. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
5. Remove foil from baking dish and continue baking for another 15 minutes.
6. Serve with 1 generous tablespoon of vanilla yoghurt or ice cream topped with fresh mint.

Many are probably not familiar with this, unless you’re Chinese. Kayang is a Chinese version of jam primarily made of coconut milk and a tonne of sugar. It’s spread over toast or any other bread and enjoyed just like jam, only tastier, that’s my opinion, but then again, I was brought up on the stuff so it might be an acquired taste thing.

I’ve never found Kayang at the groceries stores in Australia so if we ever wanted Kayang, we had to make it at home. Spurred on by a recent batch of Kayang from my folks, I decided to share our recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 can of coconut milk
• 1 can of eggs (ie enough egg to fill the coconut milk can)
• 2 cans of sugar (ie enough sugar to fill the coconut milk can twice)

Optional Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt (or to taste)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 pandan leaves (available from Chinese grocery stores)

Instructions

These are the full instructions and will include the use of all the optional ingredients.

1. In a large casserole pot, caramalise the 2 tablespoons sugar.
2. Once the sugar is caramalised, turn off the heat and allow to cool.
3. As the caramalised sugar is cooling, beat the 1 can of eggs lightly until well combined but not frothy.
4. Strain the beaten egg into a large bowl, don’t skip this step or you’ll end up with lumpy Kayang! (see below)
5. Add the rest of the ingredients to the large bowl and mix, that is:
   • 1 can coconut milk
   • 2 cans sugar
   • 1 tablespoon salt
   • 2 tablespoon lemon juice
   • 2 pandan leaves
6. Add the mixture from the large bowl to the large casserole pot with the cooled caramalised sugar
7. Put the large casserole pot over low heat and cook the mixture with continuous stirring for about 30 mintues, or until cooked. You’ll know that it’s cooked because the consistency will turn to honey.

Tips and Hints

The amounts of each main ingredients is not so important, it’s more important that the ratio of ingredients are maintained, which is 1:1:2 (milk:egg:sugar).

This is a rather easy recipe, but the trick to making great Kayang lies in the ability to avoid lumpiness. Kayang becomes lumpy when the egg in the recipe is instantly cooked. You need a lot of patience with this recipe if you want to end up with a good batch. Here’s some important tips and hints for smooth kayang:

• Don’t skip the straining of the beaten eggs
• Don’t be tempted to use medium or high heat to speed up the cooking process
• Don’t add the mixture in the large bowl to warm or hot caramalised sugar, this will instantly cook the egg and give you lumpy Kayang

Health and hearty sweets suitable for those observing a sattvic diet. Made with fresh ingredients with no cooking required, this simple to prepare recipe is both nutritious and delicious. Be warned… this is not food to be eaten by the truckloads as it does have quite a few calories!

You’ll need a blender for this recipe. Be prepared to use your hands!

Ingredients

• 75 g raisins / sultanas
• 50 g nuts (almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, whatever takes your preference)
• 100 g shredded coconut

Instructions

1. Add the raisins and nuts to the blender and blend until combined but not smooth.
2. Roll the mixture into balls.
3. Spread the shredded coconut on a plate and roll the balls in the coconut to coat.
4. Can be enjoyed immediately or chilled prior to serving.

Optional

Instead of using shredded coconut to coat the raisin nut balls, why not try these variations?

• Cocoa
• Melted chocolate - although chocolate is not strictly sattvic, small amounts is acceptable
• Carob powder

Tim Tams are my most favourite chocolate biscuits, possibly ever. They’re made by Arnotts and from what I’ve been told, aren’t easily available other than in Australia.

This isn’t strictly a recipe, but more of a way of eating these delicious chocolate treats. This Tim Tam “eating technique” has been called Tim Tam Slams and Tim Tam Torpedos.

Ingredients

• Tim Tams, any flavour you like, but Original is probably the best
• Cup of coffee, black or white

Instructions

1. Bite off opposite/diagonal corners of the Tim Tam biscuit
2. Use the Tim Tam as a straw and suck the coffee through the biscuit
3. As soon as the coffee reaches your mouth, pop the whole Tim Tam into your mouth.

The Tim Tam is going to melt pretty quickly, so don’t hold onto it for too long or it’ll drop into your coffee! You should get a pleasant chocolate explosion in your mouth. Enjoy!

Buy Tim Tams from Aussie Products.

I got this recipe from the side of the Rice Bubble’s box. I haven’t tried it yet, but I did buy the ingredients that I needed. Sounds yummy and easy enough to make.

Ingredients

• 200 grams white chocolate (chopped)
• 100 grams milk chocolate (chopped)
• 2 cups of Kelloggs Rice Bubbles

Instructions

1. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave (in a microwave safe dish) until almost all melted. Remove and stir until all melted then add to the Kelloggs Rice Bubbles until well combined.
2. Gently press the rice bubble/white chocolate mix into muffin trays to form a cup (use a spoon). Put the muffin trays with the rice bubble/white chocolate mix in the fridge for an hour or until set.
3. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave and use a pastry brush to paint the inside of the rice bubble cups with the melted milk chocolate. Put the rice bubble cups back into the fridge and remove about 30 mintues before serving.
4. To serve, put ice cream and/or fruit in the rice bubble cups.

Suggestions

I can imagine filling these cups with vanilla ice cream topped chocolate sauce and sprinkled with chopped peanuts, that would be delicous! You could even add cubed bananas and you have a new way to serve banana splits.

I don’t know if it’ll work, but you could try using Kelloggs Coco Pops instead of Rice Bubbles for an extra chocolate treat. Perhaps using milk chocolate (in place of white chocolate) and dark chocolate (in place of milk chocolate) would suit Coco Pops better.

Final thoughts

I personally think this recipe is so easy that even kids can make it. It would make a introduction to cooking for kids!

A very yummy and delicious snack that’s super simple to make. It’s guaranteed to be a party favourite. All you need is three ingredients and a microwave!

Ingredients

• 3 Mars Bars (regular size)
• 3 oz butter (85 grams)
• 3 cups of Kelloggs Rice Bubbles

Instructions

1. Melt the Mars Bars and butter in the microwave using a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second sessions with stirring between each session until Mars Bars and butter are well combined.
2. Add the Mars Bar and butter mix to the Rice Bubbles and gently combine well with a wooden spoon.
3. Press the mixture into a rectangular baking tray.
4. Refrigerate the pressed mixture for a couple of hours or until set.
5. Remove from refrigerator and cut into cookie sized pieces.

Optional

Try topping the Mars Bar Slices with chocolate. Simply melt some white, milk or dark chocolate (whatever your preference) in the microwave. Dip each slice in the melted chocolate to form a chocolate base or top, depending on how you present them.

Another option would be to fill a decorating bag with the melted chocolate and using an icing tip, decorate the slices as you wish. Draw lines, waves, circles or if you’re daring enough, try a flower or a smilie.