Lemon Shortbread

The ultimate buttery goodness. Mmm.


Used the recipe from here Lemon Shortbread.

Apple Turnovers

This is similar to an apple pie, the only difference is that it's smaller and are very handy. A "turnover" essentially is an individual pie with its filling sealed inside. They can be sweet or savoury.

I thought of making these because I wanted to give a batch of them to the physiotherapists at my treatment centre. They all have been really great to me and just wanted to show them my appreciation.

I didn't really follow a specific recipe for this. I just sort of went with what I thought was right.

Makes about 15

Preheat oven to 200 celsius.

Pastry

400g all-purpose flour

130g diced cold butter

200-300ml iced water

1 lime

Filling

6 red apples - peeled and diced (I use Red Delicious apples from Washington)

200g brown sugar

1 tbsp butter

cornstarch

water

Method

1. To make pastry, rub cold butter into flour till it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

2. Add the water by the spoonfuls until it binds.

3. Add a squeeze of lime juice.

4. If it's too dry add more water or if too wet add more flour.

5. Wrap with Clingfilm and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.

6. To make the filling, melt butter in a saucepan.

7. Put in the diced apples and cook for about 1 minute.

8. Pour in brown sugar and mix until well dissolved.

9. Mix 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water and pour into apple mixture.

10. Stir thoroughly to thicken the sauce.

11. Add another teaspoon of cornstarch plus water if it's still not thick enough.

12. Remove pastry dough from refrigerator and divide into portions.

13. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a square, with a thickness of about 1/8 an inch. Cut the edges to make it straight.

14. Cut into rectangles of about 5 inch x 3.5 inch.

15. Use the rolling pin to flatten each rectangle and make them a little longer.

16. Put some apple filling the middle of each rectangle.

17. Bring both top and bottom ends to the middle and fold like a pillow.

18. Brush surface with a beaten egg.

19. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Lemon Cake

Okay, if I were to be honest this cake didn't turn out well. I've never really been great with sponge cakes, they always collapse on my account. This time was a little better, managed to salvage it although it looks as though as its been severely mutilated. But taste-wise, it was not bad. A tad bit too sweet though because of the butter frosting.

I took the recipe from here Lemon Cake with Lemon Filling and Lemon Butter Frosting.

Chocolate & Banana Cake

You know it's time to bake a banana cake when you find yourself wondering what to do with leftover ripe bananas. I've always loved banana cake/bread. I love the moistness and dense texture. My Mom used to buy them pretty often when I was younger and would pack it for me to bring to school. And sometimes she would make at home.

I've made them myself several times but never with chocolate. As I had some remnants from a block of chocolate, I decided to use it together.

Recipe adapted from Chocolate & Banana Cake.

Lollypies

"Lolly-what?"


That was my Mom's reply when I told her I was going to make lollypies this afternoon.  When I first came across it, I thought it was simply genius. Portable mini-pies on a stick. What's not to love?


The other day I was browsing through some food blogs and this caught my eye. At first I found it hard to grasp that these mini-pies were barely two-inches in diameter. Nevertheless, i still saw the appeal. I'm definitely one for cute, mini-snacks. 


The website I referred to did not have a specific recipe. Most of the steps were illustrated with pictures. Besides, there's really not much to it. All you need is a reliable recipe for a basic shortcrust pastry and the types of filling you desire. For this time I made three different flavours; banana, apple and Nutella spread.


This one here is has a banana filling.

The website that inspired this post is Luxirare. I also referred to Bakerella, as she had included lots of step-by-step pictures.


I will definitely make this again. Will try new flavours next time, perhaps blueberry and cherry. My favourite this time is banana. I had doubts that banana might taste a little weird, but I was way wrong =).

Apple Pie

Name one person who doesn't like apple pies and I'll give him or her a slice for free. =D Anyway, apple pies to me are one of the best comfort foods to eat especially during rainy and gloomy days. 

For the recipe, please go here Grandma Ople's Apple Pie. For the pie crust pastry, you can just Google search and choose what best suits you. However, if you want the exact same recipe that I use, feel free to contact me at nikkifok@gmail.com.