Pecan slice - recipe

OK, so I HAVE to post this recipe - because, out of everything I made for thanksgiving - this was the MOST delicious!!

I didn't want to make a second pie, so I looked at the ingredients for Pecan Pie, and googled Pecan slice - and came up with this.....  expensive to make, naughty, but VERY VERY delicious.  This is why I say - hide it from the kids! hehe

Pecan Slice

Ingredients:
185g butter
1/2 c castor sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/2 t baking powder
2 T custard powder
1/2 c brown sugar
2 T golden syrup
395g sweetened condensed milk
125g pecans, halved lengthwise

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Grease a 3cm deep lamington pan/sponge roll tin (16cm x 25cm ish)


Using an electric mixer, cream 125g of the butter and castor sugar until pale.  Beat in the egg yolk.  Sift flour, baking powder & custard powder over butter mixture.  Mix to form a soft dough.


Press dough into tin and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.


While base is cooking, cook brown sugar, golden syrup, condensed milk and remaining butter in a saucepan over a low heat - for 12 minutes, or until golden.  Stir through pecans.


Pour pecan mixture over hot base and bake for a further 15 minutes.  Cut when cool.

Honestly, this tastes like some form of russian fudge, nutty slice - it is YUM!  Go on, make it - you know you want to!

x

Pumpkin Pie - Recipe

So when I made pumpkin pie for thanksgiving - I googled and read a stack of recipes and chose the one I liked the best and that sounded the most delicious.....  I then customised it a bit for us.

It has a lot of ingredients but it is really easy to make - which is cool!!

Alas, here is the recipe for Arna's pumpkin pie:

Base:

• 1.5 cups flour
• 2 T sugar
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 T + 2 t of COLD vegetable shortening (kremelta)
• 1/3 cup COLD butter
• 1/4 cup COLD water

Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until it resembles breadcrumbs.  Add the cold water and process to a dough.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Remove from fridge and either roll out on a floured surface, then press into greased pie dish OR just press it straight into greased pie dish.  (I didn't roll it out but smooshed it in with my fingers - all good)

The size of the dish needs to be quite large - I used a 25cm quiche dish, you could use a round cake tin or something like that if you don't have something big enough.

Bake blind at 180 for 15 minutes or until golden.

Filling:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1 t ground cloves
• 1.5 t ground allspice
• 1/2 t ground ginger
• 1/2 t salt
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups pumpkin puree
• 500ml evaporated milk, or cream, or make up milk powder to twice the concentrate
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon

Mix well with a hand blender of cake mixer.  Pour into cooked base.

Bake at 210 for 15 minutes, then turn down oven to 175 and bake for a futher 45-60 minutes.  A knife/skewer will come out clean from the centre when it is done.

Serve warm or cool - can be deep frozen.

I found that the filling makes more than you need so I gave some away.  You can freeze the uncooked filling.

How to describe the taste..... the filling comes out like a sweet, spicy, flavoursome custard.  It is moist, smooth and quite delicious.  The base is quite savoury and complements the filling.  It is quite rich & nice with vanilla icecream.... mmmm!

Chocolate Marquise

There's nothing like dinner with two of your besties and YUMMO dessert to make winter seem just a little bit warmer.

If you like a bit of an indulgence, especially of the rich chocolate variety - here's a recipe worth trying when you have a wee bit of time.

I first tasted it on our wedding anniversary last year at Tonic restaurant here in Whangarei.  I fell in love! (with the food).

The best description is that it is a cross of somewhere between a mousse and a cake.  Heavier than mousse but lighter than a cake.  And VERY delicious!

Prepare the day before you want to eat it:

Chocolate Marquise

7 egg yolks
3/4 cup caster sugar
200g dark chocolate (suitable for cooking/melting)
250g butter - chopped in pieces
65g good quality cocoa powder
600ml cream
1 tsp vanilla extract (the extract is much nicer but WAY more expensive than essence)


Method:

• In a heatproof bowl - use electric beater to beat egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick (took about 4 mins)
• Place bowl over a pan of simmering water (not touching the water) and add chocolate.  Whisk until melted and combined.
• Add butter one piece at a time, and whisk until melted. (I cut it into sticks and added).
• Once butter is combined, remove from heat and fold in cocoa.
• Beat cream & vanilla in a separate bowl until soft peaks form (firmer is better).
• Fold a small amount of cream into the chocolate mix until combined.  
• Then fold in the remainder of the cream.

Pour into a lightly greased 8x22cm terrine, lined with plastic wrap (enough wrap to fold over the top).  Fold the remaining plastic over the top to cover and refrigerate overnight. 
Turn out terrine, slice and eat!

My variation:
I had no idea what a terrine was and I don't have a loaf tin - so I made this and put it into individual ramekins/dishes, (no greasing or lining either) covered with gladwrap and refrigerated.

The recipe says it makes 6 servings.  I made a half recipe (4 eggs) and it filled 6 1/2cup ramekins to the top.  You honestly wouldn't want to eat any more than that - I love chocolatey stuff and I can't eat a whole one.

Serve:
with whipped cream, cream anglaise or plain vanilla icecream.
Would also be yum to try with berry compote or berries & cream - you almost need something to counter-act the richness of it.

YUMMO!

Now, what to do with all those egg whites!

Pictures were nabbed from the web.