Green Tea Lamingtons

Lamingtons are Australian tea cakes. They are generally vanilla sponge cake squares, covered in a frosting glaze and dipped in desiccated coconut. They are usually double layered and the filling is usually either chocolate or jam. I really wanted to make a traditional Aussie dessert before I left Australia. Originally I wanted to make Pavlova, which is a meringue with creme and fruit, but without an electric blender that was out. So I decided to do Lamingtons, but with a twist! And that twist is matcha! I made green tea lamingtons, and they were amazing. No seriously, they lasted about a day and a half before my housemates and I devoured them. The baking part of this recipe was easy, it was the assembly that was difficult.

I baked the cake using a box mix and added matcha powder, I didn't have as much as I wanted so the cake ended up with this cake that had a slight matcha taste, it was nice but I would use more next time. For this recipe it requires that I cut the cake into easily dippable squares. Due to this I had to be strategic with what pan I baked the cake in. I decided on the bread pan, rather than our round cake pan. This ended up being a good idea. The first step to the squares was to trim off them rounded top of the cake (above), I think next time I'll trim the sides to make it more even as well, the reason I didn't this time is because I was worried about not having enough cake.

The next step was to do the layering. I sliced the cake into two layers, which was harder than expected to cut evenly, so the top layer was a bit thicker than the bottom (above left). Next I melted dark chocolate in the microwave and spread it on the bottom layer of the cake (above right). I tried to do this quickly before it hardened up again. Then I stuck the top layer back onto the cake. Next I cut the cake into 15 squares (below left). The next move was to arrange them for the dipping. So I covered a baking sheet in baking parchment and then arranged them on the tray. 

The next step was to dip them in frosting and then cover them in desiccated coconut. Now desiccated is a fancy word for dryed and dehydrated. This is a special type of shredded coconut and in order to really make this treat work you need to buy this kind, it prevents the cakes from getting soggy. What I did was buy some store bought vanilla frosting, I then microwaved it for about 20 seconds (below left) and dipped each individual square in the frosting. I tried to make sure that it was completely covered. Next I quickly moved the cake to a bowl with the coconut in it and covered the frosted cake in the coconut, once again trying to cover it completely. Then I set it on the baking sheet to harden. While my fingers got really messy during this process, it actually worked out so much easier than I expected. First of all, the heated frosting turned into this glaze that sticked really well, and the coconut adhered to it amazingly. And then when it was covered in coconut, I could move it around and set it down without it sticking (below right). Also, as one of my housemates pointed out, I got better at it as I went along so the later squares were easier and prettier.

These cakes tasted amazing. The matcha, vanilla, coconut, and chocolate each added their own texture and flavor to the dessert, and meshed really well together. These are perfect with a cup of tea (or matcha haha) after dinner. Or with a cup of coffee for breakfast! Lamingtons are classic Australia and it makes me happy that I will be able to make these anytime I want at home and bring Australia with me!

Thoughts on this Dessert:

• Like I said, next time more matcha is going into this recipe.
• I would like to try different flavors for these. My sister makes this awesome cake called 'Blush Cake' and I think that it would be great with this recipe, but with rose jam filling. Also I'd try them with taro cloud cake for sure!
• I think that next time I'd use chocolate frosting instead of vanilla.
• When doing the dipping step, its important to reheat the frosting for 5-10 seconds or so after each cake to make sure the consistency stays right. Also to add more frosting to the bowl when it starts to get low so that you don't have to scrape the cake on the bowl. 

Really happy that my last dessert here is a really cool Australian one, and one that I could make my own. I found it really fulfilling to be able to make a recipe that was complicated but turned out well. 

Sweet Apple Sangria

So for my Birthday I was given a bottle of Savigon Blanc. Since we are getting down to the wire and I needed to drink it, and a couple of ciders that I still had, before we all leave I decided to use it to make sangria! Basically, this is an extremely simple, but very tasty Sangria that you can make in a matter of minutes. I sliced up 4 small apples, 1 pear, and 2 mandarin oranges. Then I poured the bottle of wine, as well as 2 bottles of cider over them. I mixed the entire thing with 3 shot glasses worth of orange juice. Mix this carefully because the cider will fizz up. Then I stuck it in the fridge or 5 hours or so. We enjoyed our tasty drink/dessert while watching the Disney movie Frozen :P An excellent way to end a day! We all agreed that the ranking of the fruit was the pear, then oranges, then apples. Really the pears stole the show here, they sucked up the wine in a perfect way and were really wonderful. I think that I should have mixed this a little better because a bunch of the alcohol sunk to the bottom. However, even with that it really didn't taste alcoholic despite it mostly being wine and cider. A dangerous drink indeed :) I really enjoy sangria, and I look forward to making it more now that I can legally buy alcohol in the states!!

Quorn Fajitas

Quorn is a meatless protein that is synthesized from fungi. One of my vegetarian friends had been telling me about it for awhile now. They don't sell it in the states, but they do in Australia so I decided to get some to try as my last involved meal here. I got the fajita kind, it was sliced into strips and marinated in this awesome fajita seasoning (below). I fried up some peppers and onions in olive oil and bbq seasoning and then added the quorn at the end. It really was like making a fajita with meat, and was really simple.

To add to the meal I made some homemade refried beans… these were kinda guess work than anything else. I basically smashed up kidney beans with a fork and mixed in some cheese and heated them up (below right). I then assembled my fajita! I had mild salsa, shredded mozzarella, retired beans, and the fajita mixture. 

I assembled my beast (below) and as per usual with fajitas, it was an incredible mess, but it was a delicious mess! I really liked the Quron. I tasted like the seasoning and the consistency as actually like chicken. The peppers were cooked perfectly too. My only compliant is that it could have used so avocados, guac, or sour cream to even out the spiciness of the seasoning and the salsa. The reason I didn't buy any is because there is so little time left I didn't really want to buy too much extra food. It was still a great meal though. And I have enough fajita mix for 2 more meals. I used it to make a fajita salad last night and tonight I'm going to make a fajita quesadilla. This was a great way to get some protein and this is a really interesting way of getting it since it doesn't involve any chemical intensive agriculture. Right in line with my flexitarian ideals!

Balsamic Sweet Potato Chips

Snacks for dinner! After I made the Tim Tam Truffles I was not in the mood to make anything complicated for dinner. So I opted to try and make sweet potato chips. Super east and quick, they turned out pretty well. Basically I sliced 2 small sweet potatoes rather thinly (after steaming them in the microwave for about 2 minutes). Then marinated them in Balsamic vinegar with garlic salt, by shaking them in a tupperware container until they were covered (below left). I then arranged them on a plate and microwaved them for about 8 minutes, sprinkling more garlic salt before doing so. The before and after pics are below right, they shrink up and get crispy. Also I found letting them sit for a minute or so after the microwave helps them crisp up even more (as tempting as it was to just go ahead and eat them). This was a delicious and easy meal that I would usually do as a snack, but it also sufficed for a light dinner. 

Dark Chocolate Tim Tam Truffles

Volia! I give you the ultimate Tim Tam dessert, Tim Tam Truffles! One of my friends in the Pathfinder Program at Wash U makes these AMAZING oreo truffles, so I was inspired by her to do the same thing, but with Tim Tams. This recipe is actually really simple, but seems sophisticated. It's only 3 ingredients. Tim Tams, cream cheese, and melted chocolate. The result is a truffle that looks (if you roll it correctly) and tastes like something you would buy at a gourmet candy store (below). 

I used 1.5 packs of dark chocolate Tim Tams for this recipe, but in retrospect I would have used 2 whole packs instead. I blended the cookies (entire thing) until it was crumbs (below right). Then I added the cream cheese and blended that as well. This took awhile because I was using a magic bullet blender, which is rather small and really isn't made for this kind of mixing. When it was completely mixed to the desired consistence (bottom below), I stuck some dark chocolate into the microwave, for 4 30 second intervals, stirring in between. Then I rolled the Tim Tam mixture into balls and dipped it into the chocolate. This worked really well at first and I got about 3 completely covered truffles, but then the chocolate started to harden again, and it got a lot more difficult. 

I did eventually manage to roll them all. There were 15 truffles in total. After they were rolled I placed the cookie tray they were on in the fridge for about 3 hours. Then consolidated them in tupperware (below) and placed them back in the fridge. The refrigerator keeps the chocolate from melting and keeps the truffles together, so make sure you store them this way. My housemates and I agreed these were absolutely amazing. Yet another of my favorite desserts that I've made here, and it's so fun to bake with Tim Tams!

Thoughts on this Dessert:

• What a winner! Super easy and unique
• I would love to try these with other Tim Tam flavors. Mainly the Mint Slices, Caramel Tim Tams or the Orange ones. Unfortunately, I think that once I get back to the states I'm not going to want to waste my precious Tim Tams on baking… so while I might not get a chance to try these ideas, readers with access to Tim Tams should! Wish I had tried this earlier in the semester
• Next time I think I'm going to roll the truffles and stick them in the fridge before rolling them in the melted chocolate. This will help them stay together better and hopefully cut down on the time between rolling, so the chocolate won't solidify as quickly.

This were so fun to make and even more fun to eat. And a great twist on an Aussie favorite during SWOTVAC here at UQ. 

Maxibon Honeycomb Ice Cream Bar

Sooooo, I may have been craving ice cream earlier tonight. And I may have indulged in that craving, by going to the grocery store a block from our house to get an ice cream bar. But, I'm justifying it because I get to share some more Aussie food culture with you guys! So when we were at the zoo a couple of weeks ago we got ice cream bars (it's really common for snack bars/convience stores/resturants to stock ice cream bars all around Australia). I've been trying a bunch of kinds since I've been here, and besides the Milo Cups, which are actually kinda rare, I hadn't found one that I loved. That was, until the zoo. I got a Maxibon, and it changed everything! Maxibons are basically half ice cream sandwich half chocolate covered ice cream bar… so you don't have to choose! Whoever invented this was a legit genius. At the zoo I got a caramel flavored one, which I loved. But I wanted to try the other flavors as well. And today I finally got to! I tried the honeycomb one, and it was AMAZING. 

So first I should explain honeycomb. The same way that there are certain flavors that people LOVE in America and they have lots of sweet products with them (i.e. peanut butter and Red Velvet) Australia has flavors like that too. Two of the most prevalent are Turkish Delight, and honeycomb. They have honeycomb chocolate bars, and of course, honeycomb ice cream (I also saw online they have honeycomb tim tams but haven't come across any here :( ). Honeycomb is great and is sometimes mixed with chocolate crunchies or caramel. In the case of the Maxibon, there were chocolate chunchies in the honeycomb flavored ice cream (see below). It was so good. I loved the combination of the chocolate crust and crunchy ice cream of the bar part (see pic below on the left), but I have to say nothing beats the cakey cookies of an ice cream sandwich, so I think I may actually have liked the sandwich part better (pics below on right), but really the best part of this ice cream is that you get both and don't have to choose a favorite! 

Kinda sad I didn't get around to tasting these until the last month I was here, but at least I got to it before I left. Seriously, the inventor of this kind of ice cream bar should get a medal. Why don't we have these back in the states?!

Feta Chickpea Salad

I've seen a couple of vegetarian recipes that use chickpeas as a veggie substitute for tuna and chicken salads. I love chicken salad (especially my mom's), so I decided to try something along those lines but with a Mediterranean twist. I bought two cans large chicken peas (which happened to be on sale for 80 cents each!), a block of low fat feta cheese, some spinach, a capsicum and a cucumber. I drained the chickpeas, and then mixed them with the feta (chopped), 3 heaping handfuls of fresh spinach, 1/3 a cucumber (the seeds were taken out and the excess water dried), 1 chopped capsicum, and 5 chopped semidried tomatoes (also dried of oil). I mixed this together extremely well in a large bowl. When I first thought of making this recipe I was planning on either added hummus or coleslaw dressing to give it a creamer texture, turns out that wasn't necessary. The feta turned out to be a lot softer and creamier than expected and that mixed with the chickpeas being damp and soft from the can, meant that the salad had a wonderful texture without any additions. I made this with the intention of taking it to the library for lunch for the next three days, I did so today and I was the perfect thing to eat. It was portable (see below) and filling and tasted amazing. Seriously, I felt like I had made something that you would buy out of a salad case in the gourmet section of the grocery store. I was super happy with how this recipe turned out, it's something I would made for a BBQ side or bring to a potluck, full of protein and hopefully enjoyed by vegetarians and meat eaters alike!