Chocolate Swiss Roll with Honeycomb, Banana and Mascarpone

I saw this recipe in the Masterchef magazine and was excited to try it because I had a can of (what I thought was) Caramel Top 'n' Fill, which actually turned out to be Chocolate Top 'n' Fill. Only realised this when I was ready to mix the filling. Oh well....chocolate on chocolate, can't be too bad.

This recipe calls for 3 x 50g Crunchie Bars but I made my own honeycomb after seeing Gary show us how easy it is to make in Masterclass. Love mixing a bit of science with cooking in the kitchen hehehe!

For the honeycomb you will need:

365g caster sugar

140g glucose sugar

110ml water

1 teaspoon bicarb soda

Place sugar, glucose and water in saucepan. Brush down the side with water to stop the sugar crystals forming.

Let it boil for around 10mins. Watch for a golden tinge.

This is the fast process - pour in the bicarb and whisk

Mixture will rise very quickly so pour it into a baking paper lined bowl straight away

Watch in amazement as it rises

Let it rest for 45mins.

Honeycomb flipped upside down

Honeycomb cracked up and ready to use

Random shot of my little man learning to be a food photographer

That's the honeycomb done. Now onto the chocolate sponge.

Ingredients

6 eggs, separated

110g castor sugar

25g Dutch cocoa (plus extra for dusting)

2 tablespoon plain flour (recipe called for potato starch because it's meant to make the sponge nicer but I don't have any and it said plain flour would be fine)

125g dark chocolate, melted

250g mascarpone

160g Dulce De Leche or Nestle Caramel Top 'n' Fill (which ended up being the chocolate one)

3 x 50g Crunchie Bar (made my own honeycomb)

1 small ripe banana, diced

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease a 28cm x 32xm swiss roll tin and line with baking paper.

2. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg yolks and sugar on high speed until thick and pale. Sift cocoa and plain flour and fold in gently. Add chocolate and 2 tablespoons of boling water and stir gently to combine.

3. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites to soft peaks. Fold in chocolate mixture.

4. Spoon batter into prepared tin and level with back of the spoon. Bake for 12mins or until cake springs back when lightly pressed.

5. Dust generously with cocoa powder, then cover with sheet of baking paper. Invert cake with baking paper onto a work surface, then gently peel paper from the bottom of the cake.

6. While the cake is still hot, use the baking paper to gently roll up the cake from its long side, rolling paper with the cake. Cool for 20mins only.

7. Place mascarpone, Top 'n' Fill, 100g honeycomb and banana in a bowl and stir until partically combined.

8. Genlty unroll the cake, then spread with filling, leaving a 2cm border. Re-roll the cake (it may crack a little but don't worry). Cover and refridgerate for 30mins or until filling is firm. Dust with extra cocoa and scatter with remaining honeycomb to serve.

Egg yolks and sugar

Folding the chocolate mixture into the egg whites

Chocolate swiss roll batter

Freshly out of the oven

End result

Er herm.....doesn't look quite like the photo in the magazine! But it still tasted pretty good. I'm sure the caramel would have given it the extra edge it needed but I was satisfied. I think it needed more banana though, perhaps 2 would have been better (I love bananas). The honeycomb was the highlight for me though. I was so excited to make it and for it to turn out. Especially because it was so easy to do (not to mention fun). I had loads of honeycomb left over and handed it out to family and friends to help polish off (I'd made a double batch just in case).

Hurrah to Masterclass!!! I sure am going to miss Masterchef

Chocolate Chip Cookies

What to do when you try to jump on board the macaron craze and try to make them yourself, but fail miserably? TWICE?! Go back to an easy, humble and most importantly a reliable recipe that makes you feel like you can bake afterall. I don't know what I was thinking trying to make macarons myself. Everyone has been making them (inspired by Masterchef surely) and I thought, heck why not, I should be able to do them. Boy was I wrong! I'm not giving up on them entirely, I'm just taking a break from it until I build my confidence up again. Little suckers! I'll combat them one day....just not anytime soon. So what do I do instead.....Oh Martha Martha Martha.....thank you Martha. Her Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is awesome! Thank you for restoring my faith that I can bake! Ok so the recipe is not that hard......anyway, on with the photos.

Mixing the cookie dough.

Ha ha my little man makes me laugh every day. He's been paying very careful attention everytime I make something. He's now running off to grab his toy camera and taking "photos" of our food like I do. God love him! He's a food blogger in the making ; )

I prefer to just dollop them out with two tablespoons. I can't be bothered rolling each one perfectly, plus it's the rustic look ; )

Freshly out of the oven

A whole massive plateful to enjoy!

Martha called hers "Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies" but I don't think they are chewy. They are indeed soft though. I halved the quantity of chocolate chips, 2 cups seemed way too much, but each to their own. A delightful recipe which is both easy and results are wonderful. Loved these cookies so much and will definitely be making them time and time again.

Churros

Ever since my second pregnancy I've been constantly craving donuts, even now after giving birth. I am just loving the doughy, fluffy, deep fried, sugar and cinnamon coated balls of fat. Is it the most unhealthy snack out there? Bar the deep fried mars bar....or the deep fried Krispy Kreme Burger.....yeah that was pretty sickening....even for me.

Anyway since I can't make a donut as good as Donut King, I tried to make churros instead, which turned out to be a real success. Detrimental to my waistline (especially when I've got the excess post pregnancy weight I should be losing) but I just can't help it. These beauties are irresistable. Recipe is here.

These aren't as good as the ones from Jas My Waffles which I've posted about here. But a pretty good substitute and would be even better if I had the right tip for my icing bag.

Churro dough

Frying the churros

Fresh out of the oil and into the sugar cinnamon mixture

A whole plateful!! Yum!

And a drizzle of chocolate sauce just for good measure.

Absolutely to die for!

Savoury Muffins

These muffins are great for kids who don't enjoy their vegetables. They are so tasty and moreish even for adults. It helps that I use lots of bacon too I suppose. Omit the bacon and you will have a vegetarian muffin that is (in my books) healthy and still delicious. Just make sure you double the batch because I find that these go really quickly.

Ingredients

1 onion chopped finely

4 rashes of bacon (rindless) chopped finely

1 carrot grated

1 zucchini grated

4 eggs

1 cup of tasty cheese

1/4 cup milk

1 cup self raising flour

salt & pepper

NB: The best thing about this recipe is you don't have to use these vegies, you can substitute it for anything you want to use up in the fridge. And in my case I had red capsicum and pumpkin I wanted to use up

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease 2 x 12 hole muffin tins

2.Sautee the onion and bacon (takes about 3 mins), then add the other vegies and cook for another 3 mins. Transfer to a bowl.

3. While the bacon and vegie mixture is cooling, mix the eggs, cheese, cream, salt and pepper in another bowl.

4. Pour the cream mixture into the bacon and vegie mixture and stir.

5. Add the flour and stir through (don't over mix though)

6. Spoon into muffin tins and bake for around 15mins.

Onion and bacon

Carrot and pumpkin

Capsicum and zucchini

Cooling down the cooked bacon and vegie mixture

Egg, cheese, milk, salt and pepper

Everything combined

Fresh out of the oven (I decided to use a rectangle muffin tin this time which meant it took a little longer than the 15mins)

Very moreish!

Chocolate Fondant

I can't believe it took me this long to try make a chocolate fondant. I've been missing out big time! I love everything about it. It's warm, it's rich, self saucing, creamy, spongey, decadent, chocolatey...it's got everything.

I might try Nigella's version sometime soon just to compare. I've heard mixed reviews about her recipe but I'll only know for sure if I try it myself. Either ways, I know this recipe is a winner and I will keep this saved in my recipes archive.

Served with cream and ice cream

Oozy chocolate sauce inside

Ahhh to be a kid again when your biggest challenge was getting every little bit of chocolate mix from the bowl

Mussels with Bacon and Leek

I think this is the first seafood recipe I've posted up. Needless to say that's because I'm not a big fan of seafood. I find that there is a fine line where it tips over to a fishy, ocean, briney taste and then it just makes me gag on the spot. I still eat it but I don't always enjoy it. Dad loves to steam a whole fresh fish and most of the time I'll only pick a bit of it. I know I know it's wasted on me! To have someone cook you a fresh steamed fish and I still can't enjoy it. That's not to say I dislike all types of seafood. It's just that I only like specific seafood cooked a specific way eg mud crabs in ginger and shallot sauce or salt and pepper squid. What seafood do I hate the most? Anything cold but at the top of the list I think it has to be the cooked but cold blue swimmer crabs you get with some seafood platters *shudders* oh and oysters.....gag gag gag!!!

Putting my dislike of seafood aside, I stumbled upon this mussel recipe when surfing the net and was curious to try. Reading the ingredients list and the instructions convinced me it was simple enough to prepare and I figured if I didn't like it, my family should.

Browning the bacon

Sautee the leeks

Adding the mussels

I would try this again but I would probably use less bacon as it was a bit on the salty side but still very good.

Would I add mussels to my list? Not right up there with mud crab ; ) But my husband and dad liked it so I know this recipe is fine, it's just me with the issues. I'd be happy to cook mussels again with a different sauce just to compare.

Jamie Oliver's Pasta Bianco

Following on from the last post is Jamie Oliver's Pasta Bianco. I wanted a somewhat simple sauce to go with our freshly made pasta so that I could enjoy the pasta itself. This is a really easy recipe which only requires 4 ingredients plus salt and pepper. I would definitely make this again.

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely grated
40g butter
455g tagliatelle
2 or 3 handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta. Meanwhile fry the grated garlic in the butter without colouring it for a couple of minutes and pour into a big bowl. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, but reserve at least 5 to 6 tablespoons of the pasta water.
Add the pasta to the bowl with the garlic oil, add the Parmesan cheese and the pasta water and toss well.
Serves 4

The garlic oil

2 to 3 handfuls of Parmesan cheese
Freshly cooked pasta

Tossing the pasta

Pasta Bianco