Gingerbread Biscuits & Gluehwein (Mulled Wine)

Dear Santa,

Soon you will be making your way around the world delivering thousands and thousands of gifts to all the good boys and girls of the world. I do hope you visit my home on your deliveries... I have really tried to be good this year, I really have!

I'm sure you must get awfully hungry visiting so many houses in one night! Just to let you know, I'll be leaving you out a little snack for when you stop by. I know you get a lot of milk and cookies, but I thought you could probably do with something a little stronger by the time you reach Australia.

I hope you like gingerbread and mulled wine :)

Love,

Ladybird xoxo

PS - here is my Christmas tree :)

Gluehwein (Mulled Wine)
Adapted recipe from The Cook and The Chef, ABC Television

Ingredients
1L red wine (I used a clean skin merlot)
120ml orange juice
60g raw sugar
1/2 cinnamon stick
6 cloves
1 bay leaf
peelings of half a lemon

Method
1. Bring the sugar, spices and orange juice to a boil. Then let this mixture steep for 30 minutes.
2. Finally, pour in the wine and carefully reheat to just under the boiling point.
3. Strain if desired and serve.

Bourke Street Bakery Gingerbread Biscuits
Recipe from Bourke Street Bakery: The Ultimate Baking Companion (can be halved for a smaller quantity)

Ingredients
1.125kg plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
400g unsalted butter
400g soft brown sugar
320g golden syrup (or honey)
1 egg
4 egg yolks

For the royal icing
1 egg white
250g icing (confectioner's) sugar
1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method

1. Put the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a large bowl and mix on medium speed until pale and creamy. Add the egg and egg yolks in a slow stream and mix until well combined. Add the dry ingredients, in three batches, until thoroughly mixed through.

2. Divide the dough into four even-sized portions and flatten each disc. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes, or for up to 3 days.

3. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow the dough to soften slightly. Roll out each disc between two sheets of baking paper until about 3mm thick. Cut into the desired shaped using biscuit cutters or a knife. Re-roll to make use of all the dough.

4. Place the biscuits on baking trays lined with baking paper and bake, in batches, for 15-20 minutes until slightly puffed and golden. Allow to cool on the trays. (Tip - to ensure your cookies hold their shape well while baking you can refrigerate them for 30 minutes prior to baking).

5. Meanwhile, make the royal icing. Sift the icing sugar through a fine sieve. place the egg white in a bowl and add 1 tbsp of the icing sugar. Using a wooden spoon, beat to form a smooth paste, then keep adding the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the lemon juice - you should be able to squeeze the mixture through a piping bag. Transfer to a piping bag and decorate the biscuits as desired. Once decorated and dry, they can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

I hope you are all well and truly enjoying the festive season and time with your loved ones over good food and drink!

Stay tuned for more Christmas posts!

Ladybird x

Ginger & Spice Crème Brulee

This crème brulee recipe is inspired by the ginger brulee tarts at the Bourke St Bakery in Sydney. Their tarts are so good!

*** French cuisine purists beware - this brulee recipe does not follow the orthodox method of creating the brulee custard... you have been warned! ***

This recipe makes 6 small brulees (I used 1/4 cup capacity ramekins)

Ingredients
2 cups (500ml) pouring (pure) cream
4 egg yolks
1 inch piece ginger, peeled and finely sliced
1/2 small, thin cinnamon stick
2 green cardamom pods, bruised
1/4 cup caster sugar
demerara sugar, for sprinkling
chopped pistachios, for decoration

Method
1. Place the cream, ginger, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick in a small saucepan over low heat. Simmer for 3 minutes, then set aside for 20 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 150 degrees celsius.

2. Remove the ginger and spices by straining the mixture into a bowl, then return the cream to the saucepan.

3. Return the saucepan to very low heat (important because we don't want to scramble the yolks) and add the yolks and caster sugar and stir continuously for 6-8 minutes until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon.

4. Transfer custard to a jug (you can strain out any lumps with a sieve) then pour into ramekins. Place the ramekins in a baking dish and pour enough boiling water into the dish so that it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

5. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the custards set. Remove from the baking dish and cool to room temperature before refrigerating for an hour, or until cold.

6. When ready to serve, sprinkle the tops of the custards with demerara sugar. Caramelise with a torch, or under a hot grill, then repeat. Two layers of caramelised sugar makes for a beautiful crisp top to crack through, yielding delicious creamy custard beneath.

Yum! :)

Ladybird x

Goat's Cheese and Leek Tart

For my last birthday Mr Ladybird gave me the Bourke Street Bakery (BSB) cookbook... lucky me! :). This is no ordinary cookbook.. as it says on the cover it really is the ultimate baking companion.

It contains recipes for exactly the kind of beautiful baked goods you'd expect from BSB, perhaps Sydney's most iconic bakery. Bread, croissants, tarts, cakes... endless baked goodness.. Mmmm :) The recipes are very detailed, and contain lots of tips and step by step instructions, with lots of pictures to guide you along the way.

My most recent creation from the book was this delicious savoury tart.. and here is the recipe for you all to try. I haven't included the shortcrust pastry recipe as it is somewhat involved and very long (perhaps another blog post in its own right). However, you could use a simple shortcrust pastry recipe instead, no problems.

Goat's Cheese and Leek Tart
1 quantity savoury shortcrust pastry
35g butter
1 large leek (about 200g), white part only, washed and finely sliced
80ml (1/3 c) white wine
300 ml pouring (i.e pure) cream (35% fat)
300g soft goat's cheese
4 eggs
3 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celcius. Roll out the pastry and use it to line the base and sides of eight 10cm, fluted, loose-based tart tins. Place in the refrigerator.
2. Melt the butter in a frying pan and saute the leek for about 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the wine, swish it around, and allow it to evaporate completely. Remove from the heat and set aside.
3. Heat the cream in a saucepan over medium heat and crumble the goat's cheese into it, stirring continuously until the cheese has completely dissolved and the cream thickens. Remove from the heat and set aside.
4. Putt the eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and mix for about 3 minutes on high spped, or until light and fluffy. Add the cream micture, thyme, salt and pepper, and continue mixing on low speed for about 30 seconds to combine.
5. Put the pastry shells on a baking tray lined with baking paper and scatter the cooled leeks into the shells. Pour over the cream mixture to fill each tart.
6. Carefully slide the tray onto the middle shelf of the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 180 degree celcius and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden.
7. Remove from the oven and cool a little before serving.

I served the tarts with a simple rocket and pear salad. This salad went really well with the tarts and offset the strong flavours of the goat's cheese and leek. To make this salad combine fresh, washed rocket with a little finely slinely sliced, firm Packham pear. Yum :) Dress with a quick balsamic dressing like this one:

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

soft brown sugar, to taste (I used 3/4 tsp)

Combine ingredients in a small, screwtop jar and shake in your best maraca shaking style :)

Although I am fortunate to live close to Bourke Street Bakery, there is a very special satisfaction from making your own tarts from scratch... Oh so delicious and very rewarding :)

Ladybird x