So Let's Talk about... Roadtripping

If you know nothing else about Mack and I, you should know that we love a good roadtrip!

Aside from going camping and 4 wheel driving as much as we possibly can, we also enjoy the long journeys around Australia!

3 years ago, almost exactly, we drove for (I think) 12 days, and we did Sydney - Barossa Valley - Adelaide - Mount Gambier - The Great Ocean Road - Melbourne - Yarra Valley - Sydney, and it started a mission to drive all around Australia.

I would really love to head out of a trip and do it all in one go (like 6 months or a year or more), but we just don't have that kind of opportunity right now.  Which means we have to take what we can get, and do smaller trips (which also means driving the tedious drive to and from Sydney every time, but what can you do).  So far we have done 3 trips, with a 4th one coming up in June of this year.

1. Listed above (The Great Ocean Road Adventure)
2. Sydney - Broken Hill - Peterborough - Port Pirie - Murray River Town Tour - Kangaroo Valley - Sydney (The Practice Uluru Trip)
3. Sydney - Broken Hill - Lake Hart - Coober Pedy - Oodnadatta Track - Flinders Ranges - Mildura  - Sydney (The Uluru - Flinders Ranges Adventure part one and two)
4. Tassie Trip! (Destinations TBC)

There are SO many things to consider when you're going on a trip, especially somewhere as large as Australia.  You might know, you might not, but the UK fits into Australia about 31 times.  It takes 5 hours to FLY from Sydney to Perth.  The time difference between Sydney and Perth is 3 hours (we have 3 time zones!).  You can drive for literally hundreds of kilometres and for hours without seeing another car or town.

Oh.  And we have some of the most deadly animals in the world!

This entry has been on my list for a while, but there are just so many things to talk about!  I was going to do one large blog, but it just isn't going to cut it.

Here it is now, your introduction to the Australian Roadtrip Series.

I will start with each trip; where we went and what we did etc.  The first one is mostly going to be photos, because I don't remember all of the details, but the others I kept a diary so that I can remember everything!

I will then move on to detailed entries about fuel, camping, animals and safety.  When I have been researching trips, I have found lots of forums with people asking questions, but there is no definitive answers, and there are few websites that cover the points in detail.  So that's what I am aiming for - a one stop shop for Australian travel (by car).  As we go on more trips, there will be more questions answered :).

Join me every Sunday at 5pm, (Sydney time), starting 4th March to read about the next adventure.

I am excited for this series - hope you enjoy too!
Hx

Cook with Hannah: Wild Berry/Strawberry and Lime Rekordelig Cupcakes

Another week, another flashback!

This time, we are heading back to the time I experimented with putting cider in cupcakes.

I used the recipe from the Strawberry and Lime Cupcakes, but adjusted the amount of sugar and made sure to beat the butter until it was really fluffy.  I also added berries :).  Below is the full recipe, and also a half batch recipe.

If I'm honest, I think I prefered the strawberry and lime flavour - you can be the judge!

Oh, and this recipe is a little less thick [I'm not sure why seeing as I used the same amount of flour, but anyway], so fill them to just over 1/2 full - make them this full...

... and they might overflow in the oven, like mine did :)

Wild Berry/Strawberry & Lime Rekorderlig Cupcakes

Makes 12/24 regular cupcakes or 15/32 mini cupcakes

100g/200g unsalted butter [softened]
175g/350g caster sugar
2/4 eggs
250g/500g self raising flour
0.5 cup/1 cup Wild Berry/Strawberry & Lime Rekorderlig cider

75g/150g fresh blueberries/strawberries

50g/100g frozen raspberries [as they melt, the colour swirls through the


Frosting.
250g/500g cream cheese
250g/400g pure icing sugar
25ml/40ml Rekorderlig cider
Blueberries, to garnish


Method.
Step 1: preheat oven to 180oC
Step 2: cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
Step 3: beat eggs in one at a time until just combined
Step 4: starting and ending with flour, add flour and cider alternately, and fold in until just combined, then stir through the berries
Step 5: using a piping bag, fill the cupcake cases until just over 1/2 full, and bake for 15-20 minutes [until springy]
Step 6: to make the icing, whip the cream cheese and then add the sifted icing sugar until well incorporated.  mix in a little of the cider at a time, to taste - I also used purple food colouring to dye half of my icing purple, just for fun
Step 7: once the cupcakes are completely cold, use a star tipped [no. 7] piping bag to pipe the icing onto the cakes
Step 8: garnish with blueberries/strawberries, and enjoy with the leftover cider :)

 

Both are delicious - I haven't tried the other Rekordelig ciders yet, have you?

Hx

Cook with Hannah: the edible coffee cup!

Kicking off the month with another classic recipe from 2014.

Remembering the time I spent over a year experimenting with making edible espresso cups.

Remember this:

Nearly 4 years on, I would really like to perfect this, but for now, given how busy I am, that will have to wait! I really just love the idea of having a little coffee in a cup you can eat afterwards - who doesn't love a biscuit with their coffee.

The pastry I used here is different to the one I used in the original post back in 2013 - it is much more stable and tears less easily.

Make the pastry, roll it our to about 3mm thick, and cut into a 20cm circle.

My mold of choice - a dariole mold! Available in all good cooking stores, this is the perfect shape to make an espresso cup. Put the circle of pastry into the mold and press to shape. Press it all the way to the top of the mold (higher than is shown here, and thinner as well).

Use a super mini dariole mold to blind bake.

After blind baking, bake until golden brown.

This attempt ended up a little thick - I would simply press it a little thinner and taller in the mold.


Edible Coffee Cup:

Ingredients:
250g plain flour
125g unsalted butter
50g caster sugar
1 whole egg

Method:
Step 1: preheat oven to 180oC

Step 2: rub the cold butter into sifted flour until they resemble fine breadcrumbs

Step 3: mix in sugar, and then the egg, until just combined

Step 4: rest in the fridge for 30 minutes

Step 5: roll out pastry to 3mm thick, and cut into a 20cm circle and then press into the mold

blind bake for 10 minutes, and then bake until golden brown

Step 6: leave to cool before removing from the mold.


Once the cookie is cold, you must waterproof it; this is the same recipe as before.

This stuff is actually really cool - it makes a cookie literally waterproof so you can put liquids near it and it won't get soggy. A total bonus is that it also mixes with the coffee ever so slightly to give that milk and cookie taste with your espresso.

Hannah's waterproof icing mixture:

Ingredients:
2.5 cups icing sugar
2tbsp. glucose
2tbsp. milk

Method.
Step 1. sift icing sugar

Step 2. add the glucose and milk, and mix until smooth - it will be a fairly thick, super sticky paste

Step 3. it holds at a relatively stable consistency at room temperature, but sets in the fridge, so store at room temp until ready to use [until the cookies are cold]

Step 4. use a teaspoon to spread to mixture onto the cookies, making sure it's even all the way round

Step 5. Set in the fridge; it takes at least an hour to completely set.

And that's it!

This cup only just fit 1 30ml shot of coffee; adding that extra height when blind baking should make it the perfect espresso cup size.


I hope you are enjoying all of the recipe flashbacks - I know I am!


Happy baking!
Hx