Yummy Chocolate Brownies

115 g butter
200 g white sugar
2 eggs
5 ml vanilla extract
30 g unsweetened cocoa powder
60 g all-purpose flour
2 g salt
1 g baking powder
Icing and Maltesers to decorate

Icing:
125g icing sugar
2 tsp cocoa
1 Tbsp horlicks or malted milk powder
60g softened butter
1 Tbsp boiling water

Preheat the oven to 175C. Grease and line with baking paper a 20x20cm square tin.

Melt the butter in a saucepan on the stove. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 mins or until still slightly gooey in the centre.

Cool in the pan then ice with malteser icing and decorate with maltesers.

For the icing: Mix together all ingredients except the water in a bowl. Gradually add the boiling water until desired consistency is reached.

Netty's Easy Peasy Scones

1 small tub (300 ml) whipping cream
3 cups SR flour
pinch salt

Fold the flour and salt through the cream.

Gently flatten mixture into around 3/4 inch batter.

Cut scones with round glass.

Put on tray dusted with flour. Arrange scones so they will be touching when they expand (this ensures they are soft and not all dry on the outside).

Bake in hot oven (200C) until golden (should be around 15 mins).

Enjoy with jam and cream. I love a good rasberry jam. Mmm

Grublover comment
My aunt Netty made these for my family when enjoying gracetown on the Australia Day weekend. They are great for weekends away because you don't need many ingredients or jazzy tools.
Jazz them up by adding extra flavours.
Some ideas:
- savoury: add fetta and spinach
- sweet: add raisins

Choc-Bananzacs.....recipe by Claire Hollingsworth

1 cup plain flour
1 cup rolled oats (regular oatmeal) uncooked
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
100 grams of choc chips (milk or dark, or a mix)
1 banana (cut into small chunks, or mashed)
2 tbsp golden syrup (or honey)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp boiling water

Preheat oven to 180 celcius.

Combine the flour (sifted), oats, coconut and sugar in a bowl.

Melt the butter and Golden Syrup in a saucepan over a low heat.

Mix the bicarbonate of soda with the water and add to the butter and Golden Syrup.

Pour the liquids into the dry ingredients and mix well, add banana and choc chips.

Dollop onto tray and cook for 15 - 20 minutes.

Grublover comment (Today's Grublover = Claire)
This is a variation on an old war time Aussie favourite treat- Anzacs. The only reason I added banana and chocolate was because I thought it'd be cool name - "choc-bananzac"...turns out they taste pretty good! Next time I'll add peanut butter - choc-peanut-buttanzacs, for kel and ange

Blueberry Crumb Bars

3 cups plain flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup white sugar
4 tsp cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (180 C). Butter and flour a 9 x 13 baking pan.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest.

Use a pastry cutter or fork to cut into the butter until the butter is in pieces no larger than a pea then mix in the egg. Or you can do this in a food processor. The dough will be crumbly but stick together when you squeeze it. Pat half of the dough into the pan.

In another bowl, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Add the blueberries and gently toss them to coat. Pour the blueberry mixture on top of the dough in the pan. Then crumble the rest of the dough evenly over the surface of the berries.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the top is slightly browned. Cool completely then cut into squares. Dust with powdered sugar if preferred. Can be stored in the fridge for a few days.

Grublover comment
I haven’t had a chance to make these yet but they look so easy and delicious. Will definitely be trying them when my sweet tooth gets fired up.

Berry Easy Tart

1/2 cup butter
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
2 cups sliced strawberries or frozen berries (raspberries work well)

Topping
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp light sour cream
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 200C.

Mix butter, flour, sugar and 1 egg yolk in bowl.

When the mixture forms a ball, press into a 20cm tart tin. Line it with baking paper for easy removal. Spread the berries over the dough.

For the topping combine the yolk with sour cream and sift in the flour and sugar.

Drizzle around berries.

Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temp to 180c and bake a further 30 minutes. Watch the oven temp plus the time in the oven as can be over-cooked. Serve with sour cream and extra berries.

Jill’s Caramelised Onion and Goats Cheese Tart

Shortcrust pastry (you can make this yourself of use the frozen stuff)
5-6 brown onions
2 Tb balsamic vinegar
thyme
1 packet goats cheese
3 eggs
small packet whipping cream

Press shortcrust pastry into tart tin and blind bake.
Fry onions in 1 Tb olive oil until they start sticking. Add balsamic vinegar and thyme and cook a little more.
Pour onions over tart base.
Crumble goats cheese over the top (ok to have big clumps).
Whisk up eggs and cream until combined and pour over the top.
Season and bake until ready (around 10-15 minutes).

Grublover comment
Jill made this for us while celebrating Jessie’s graduation in gtown. It is a really simple recipe that always works and always tastes delicious. Serve with a fresh, crisp salad of rocket and balsamic. Great for entertaining because it is equally nice cold.

Peanut Butter Cup Slice…recipe by Nigella Lawson

Makes approximately 48.

for the base:
50g dark muscovado sugar
200g icing sugar
50g unsalted butter
200g smooth peanut butter

for the topping:
200g milk chocolate
100g dark chocolate
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 x 23cm square brownie tin, lined with Glad Bake

Stir all the ingredients for the base together until smooth. Wooden spoon works great.
You will find that some of the dark muscovado sugar stays in rubbly, though very small, lumps, but don’t worry about that. Press the sandy mixture into the lined brownie tin and make the surface as even as possible.

To make the topping, melt the chocolates and butter together (in a microwave for ease, for a minute or two on medium) and spread on the base. Put the tin in the fridge to set. When the chocolate has hardened, cut into small squares – because, more-ish as it undeniably is, it is also very rich.

Grublover comment
This recipe is dedicated to my good pal Kelly Gillespie who introduced me to the mouth-watering, moreish Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups. It is really simple to make and is as close as you can get to the real thing. The best thing is you don’t have to cook - great because my oven is out of action. Enjoy Kel!

Apple Custard Streusel Slice

Makes 16 pieces







Pastry
1 and 1/4 cups (155g) plain flour
1 Tb caster sugar
80g butter, melted and cooled
1 egg yolk

Apple Custard Topping
3 green apples
20g butter
4 Tb caster sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup thick cream
1 tsp vanilla essence

Crumble Topping
1/2 cup plain flour
2 Tb dark brown sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts (or pecans)
60g butter, melted

Lightly grease an 18 x 28 cm shallow tin and line with baking paper, overhanging two opposite sides.

To make the pastry, sift the flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Add the melted butter, egg yolk and 2-3 Tb of water and mix until it comes together.
Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper to fit the base of the tin. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 190 C.
Line the pastry base with baking beads or uncooked rice or beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beads, reduce oven temperature to 180C and bake for 5 minutes, or until golden (it does not have to be competely cooked or hard at this stage). Leave to cool.

To make the apple custard topping, peel, core and chop the apples and place in a saucepan with the butter, half the sugar and 2 Tb of water. Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes, or until soft and pulpy. Uncover and simmer for another 5 minutes, to reduce the liquid. Use a wooden spoon to break down the apples until they have a smooth texture. Leave to cool.

Whisk together the eggs, cream, remaining sugar and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl (hand whisk is fine). Spread the cooled apple mixture over the pastry and then carefully pour the cream mixture over the apple. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the custard has set.

To make the crumble topping, mix together the flour, brown sugar and walnuts in a mixing bowl. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture is crumbly (I found this was too much butter so I ended up adding more flour and sugar). Sprinkle the crumble over the custard and bake for 15 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin nbefore slicing.

Grublover comment
This slice is a real winner - absolutely delicious. It will store for up to a week if refrigerated in an airtight container.
As you can see I didn’t have an 18×28cm tin so I used a round tart tin - worked fine.

Caramel Melting Moments

These are delicious served with a short black coffee.
Makes 30

Ingredients
250g (8 oz) butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 cups plain flour
filling
90g (3 oz) butter
200g (6.5oz) brown sugar
2 Tb golden syrup
1/3 cup thickened cream

Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Add flour and mix until combined.

Place tablespoons of biscuit mixture on lined baking trays.

Beat in preheated 160 degree (315 F) oven for 15 minutes or until golden, and allow to cool on a wire rack.

To make filling, place butter, sugar, golden syrup and cream in a saucepan over low heat and mix until smooth.

Allow caramel to simmer for 5 minutes or until it has thickened slightly.
Cool caramel in fridge until it is firm. Spread it over half the biscuits and sandwich together with remaining biscuits.

Little Lemon Curd Tarts

Serves 6

1 quantity (350g or 12 oz) sweet shortcrust pastry
filling
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup cream
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon rind

Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface until it is 2mm (1/8 inch) thick. Cut pastry into 6 circles to fit six 1-cup capacity muffin tins.

Prick pastry, line with non stick baking paper and fill with rice or baking weights. Bake pastry in preheated 200 degree (400 F) oven for 5 minutes.

Remove rice or weights and paper, and bake pastry for a further 4 minutes or until golden.

To make filling, place sugar, eggs, cream, lmeon juice and rind in a bowl and mix to combine.

Pour filling into tart shells and bake in a 160 degree (315 F) oven for 20 minutes or until filling is just set.

Cool tarts and serve with thick cream and berries.