Gingerbread Men

On Wednesday 20th November 2013 I made Gingerbread Men. They were really nice and cooked to perfection. Something that went well was the decorating of the Gingerbread Men. They looked really good. It was really hot and hard to make the gingerbread men because the butter kept melting and making the dough soft.

Overall, they looked really tasty and colourful. They are a lot better than the supermarkets Gingerbread Men because they weren't so hard. They were moist but crunchy. Fortunately the ginger wasn't to strong. This is a great recipe that is quite quick when it isn't so hot.

Note: The Gingerbread Men are soft when they come out of the oven but harden as they cool.

Chocolate Cupcake Comparison

My chocolate cupcakes:

• Moist
• Self-raising flour
• Makes 12
• Decorated
• Colourful
• A quick and easy recipe

Coles chocolate cupcakes:

• Gluten Free
• Makes 24
• Eggs and egg whites                                                             
• Plain chocolate
• Long time to bake

Similarities:

• Cocoa powder
• Patty papers
• Cupcakes
• A lot of the same ingredients

Cheesecake Comparison

My cheesecake:

• No preservatives
• Mini cheesecakes
• Simple ingredients
• Not every sweet

Woolworths cheesecake:

• A lot of different emulsifiers.
• One whole cheesecake
• A lot of ingredients
• Fatty
• Sweet
• White chocolate

Similarities:

• Cream cheese as an ingredient
• Biscuit base
• Raspberry flavour
• Eggs
• Both cooked

 

Rainbow Cupcakes

On Wednesday the 13th of November 2013 I made rainbow cupcakes. They were really well cooked and were moreish and moist. Something I would do differently next time is try and swirl the colours to make a different affect.

The cupcakes were really nice looking they weren't like most cupcakes though. These cupcakes don't brown on the top, so they weren't golden on top they were colourful. This made them look more yummy and interesting. They were colourful and were very beautiful. The cupcakes are a great idea for a kids birthday.

Cheesecake History

Cheesecake originates from Greece, on the Greek island of Samos. The reason why New York is considered the main centre of cheesecakes is because Arnold Reuben went from Germany to America when he was young and especially made a New York style cheesecake after being invited to a dinner party.

 

Some main ingredients in a cheesecake base are:

v  Butter

v  Spices

v  Biscuits

Variations in cheesecakes:

v  Baked cheesecakes have different ingredients in the base e.g. flour, caster sugar and almond meal.

v Different cheeses e.g. cream cheese, curd cheese, ricotta cheese, mascarpone cheese, etc.

Usually in non-bake cheese cakes/ chilled cheesecakes contain lemon juice. The purpose of the lemon juice is to make the cheesecake firm. The lemon juice helps the cheesecake set because the acid in the lemon reacts with the dairy making the cheesecake firm. Baked cheesecakes don’t contain any lemon because they are cooked which makes them firm.

Different flavored cheesecakes:

v  Black Forest

v  Cookies and Cream

v  Lemon

v  Butterscotch

v  Chocolate Chip

v  Chocolate Barbarian

v  Oreo

v  White Chocolate

v  Snickers Bar

v  Caramel Swirl

The list goes on and on.

 

Chocolate Cupcakes

Today, Saturday the 9th of November 2013 I made chocolate cupcakes. The cupcakes cooked perfectly. They didn't stick to the patty papers and were moist. They weren't burnt at all. Nothing went badly but something I would do differently next time is use a different piping bag for the icing because the one I used was really hard to work.

They were really well cooked and were nice and moist. They tasted marvellous and are a great afternoon/ morning  tea size. In general they weren't only good looking but were also good tasting.

Garnishing

A lot of desserts are garnished. They can be garnished in all different ways. Recently I went to a cupcake party and I had the chance to garnish some of my own cupcakes. This was a great opportunity and I learnt a lot of different techniques. My favourite thing I learnt was how to use fondant. Fondant is a thick, play dough like paste make of water and sugar. It is very useful in decorating sweets and cakes. This is a picture of two cupcakes I decorated with fondant.

 

There are lots and lots of different ways of garnishing, this is just one of my favourites. So what is your favourite type of garnishing? Why don't you get creative and start decorating your own today!

Butter Biscuits

Today, Saturday the 9th of November 2013 I made butter biscuits. Something that went really well was the way they cooked. They were golden brown and crunchy. Unfortunately I ran out of self-raising flour and I had to use some plain flour. I was really worried that this would make the biscuits turn out bad. Luckily though they turned out really well and were delicious.

They looked and tasted really good. They were nice and crunchy and had creamy taste. They looked magnificent and tasted as good as they looked. To sum up I think that the biscuit tasted really good for just a basic, quick biscuit batch.

I recommend that all parents should get their children to have a go at these biscuits. The best thing about them is that you can make them into all different shapes using cookie cutters.

Baked Cheesecake

On Wednesday the 6th October 2013 I made baked raspberry cheesecakes. My cheesecakes were really yummy and were cooked to perfection. They were really moist and the raspberries added a lot of taste. I wouldn't say that anything went wrong but something that I would do differently next time is add a bit more sugar as I have a sweet tooth.

Overall, they looked good and tasted good. Although you have to let them set for a while before you eat them or they fall apart and taste yuck. They looked really really good and tasted great. They weren't too sweet and had a smooth texture. If you don't like sweet desserts than I would definitely recommend this dessert to you.

A good thing about this dessert is that if you don't like raspberries than you can put a different type of fruit on top. If you don't like fruit all together than you can leave the fruit of all together. My Dad doesn't like fruit so I left the fruit off two for him.

Sweet Cookery Utensils

A lot of utensils are used in sweet cookery. These are some common ones in the picture below:

How these utensils are used:
Rolling Pin: To flatten or shape pastry or dough.
Measuring Cups: To measure an amount of a certain ingredient.
Wooden Spoon: To stir something sweet.
Whisk: To whip eggs or cream.
Spatula: To mix or spread things.

There are a lot more of utensils used in sweet cookery, these are only a few.

Chocolate Crackle Cups

On Wednesday 30th October 2013 I made chocolate crackle cups. Something that went well was the way I used my time. I had plenty of time so that I didn't have to rush and my chocolate crackles got to set properly before I took them home. Nothing went badly but something that I found difficult was putting the white chocolate on the top of the chocolate crackles. Something that I would do different next time is pipe the white chocolate because that would make it more neat and easier to do more creative stuff.

The chocolate crackles were extremely tasty. They were nice and crunchy. They looked really delicious and the marshmallows and white chocolate made them look more appealing. In general the chocolate crackle cups were amazing and looked scrumptious.

Chocolate

The difference between dark chocolate and white chocolate is that in dark chocolate there are solids and cocoa powder. Although in white chocolate there aren’t any solids or cocoa powder, instead there is cocoa butter mixed with sugar and milk.

Chocolate originated in Central and South America as this is where the cacao tree is native. It got to Europe by Christopher Columbus and Henry Cortez as they did not realize the value of them, how valuable they were to the natives.

Some chocolate companies and their products are:

Cadbury - Crunchie, Picnic, Top Deck, Snack, etc. 

Nestle – Chocolate melts, Kit Kat, Aero, Smarties, etc.

Lindt – Lindor Gift Box, Lindor Blocks, Lindt blocks. All blocks and gift boxes come in different flavours.

Positive benefits of eating chocolate:

•          Chocolate is good for your heart health and skin health.
•          Chocolate can boost your mood and make you feel less stressed.
•          Some fats in chocolate do not impact your health.

Too much chocolate has bad side effects, such as:

•          Obesity, weight problems that can lead to heart attacks.
•          Kidney stones, chocolate contains chemicals, oxalates that associate with a high risk of kidney stones.  
•          Migraines, Tyramine is a chemical that is a lot of food and chocolate is one of them foods and this chemical can cause migraines.
•          Caffeine is in a lot of foods and is extremely bad for your health if you have too much of it. It can also prevent you from seeping so try not to have chocolate before bed.
•          Chocolate is very moreish and the more you eat the worse it is for your health.

     

 Fair trade chocolate is organised to help provide farmers with improved trading conditions. It gives farmers a higher payment and mainly focuses on developing countries. It is a very good organization that helps out the farmers in developing countries and plays a big part the chocolate industry.

Apple Galette

On Wednesday 23rd October 2013 I made apple galette. I made a good size apple galette and put a good amount of apples on my galette. It was very hot when we made apple galette and this meant the pastry was really hard to make because the butter in the pastry was melting and making the pastry fall apart. So something I would do differently next time is make the apple galette when it isn't so hot.

The apple galette was delicious. It was sweet with a smooth but crunchy texture . The pastry and apples were golden brown. Overall, the apple galette not only looked good but tasted good as well.

Carrot & Walnut cupcakes

On Sunday 20th October 2013 I made carrot and walnut cupcakes. I iced the cupcakes well and put the right amount of batter in the cupcake cases. Something I would do differently next time is place my cupcakes differently in the oven.

They were tasty and moist. They were golden brown and looked delicious.

Cook book review

Junior Masterchef Official Recipe Collection

The Junior Masterchef Official Recipe Collection cook book is a great cook book for children. It has easy and more challenging recipes. It has excellent recipes in it that have been cooked by children. It has extra information about different techniques and ingredients. Overall it is a great cook book that is informative and clear. I would definitely recommend it to mothers, children or anyone in general.

Chocolate Brownies

On Wednesday 17th October 2013 I made chocolate brownies. Something that went well was the size of the cooking tray I took to school. The dish wasn't to deep and the brownies mixture fitted in well. One thing I would do differently next time is have more time. I didn't have enough time which meant that my brownies weren't cooked properly.

The brownies tasted amazing, although they were a bit sweet. They had a smooth texture with a crunchy outside. They looked really dark going into the oven but came out of the oven a lighter colour. Overall though the brownies both looked and tasted sensational. 

About me

My name is Courtney Robinson and I am 13 years old. I love animals and hope to become a veterinarian when I get older. I love to cook and enjoy doing cooking at school especially. I have a lot of pets as I live on a farm, although my favourite animal is a horse by far. I spend a lot of time doing stuff with my horses as I love them so much. My two horses, Mouse and Girl are my world. I don't like school as I don't get to spend a lot of time with my horses but in the long run I will spend my whole day with horses when I become a veterinarian. Nothing will get in the way of me becoming a veterinarian so right now school means a lot to me.

Sweets Around the World

Country	Dessert Name	Ingredient used	Would we eat it in Australia?
France	Chocolate Soufflés	Eggs & chocolate.	Yes
Italy	Gelato	Milk, cream, sugar.	Yes
United Kingdom	Trifle	Cake, jelly, custard.	Yes
Eastern Europe	Babka	Flour, yeast.	Yes
Germany	Jelly donut	Flour, jam, sugar	Yes
Russia	Russian tea cake I	Flour, butter, sugar.	No
Norway	Norwegian butter cookies	Flour, extracts, butter.	Yes
Spain	Churro	Flour, sugar.	Yes
Greece	Baklava	Phyllo, nuts.	Yes
Austria	Sacher Torte	Sponge cake, apricot, icing.	Yes
Iceland	Snuour	Cinnamon, chocolate.	No
Middle East	Basbousa	Semolina, farina, syrup.	Yes
Moroccan	Koabel Ghzal	Pastry, almond paste.	No
Peru	Arroz con Leche	Rice, milk/water.	Yes
Canada	Maple Taffy	Maple sap, snow.	No
China	Tangyuan	Glutinous rice flour.	No
Korea	Tteok	Glutinous rice flour.	No
Japan	Namagashi	Fruit jellies/ sweetened beans.	No
Sri Lanka	Watalappam	Coconut, milk, eggs.	Yes
South Africa	Koeksisters	Dough, sugar.	Yes

Anzac Biscuits

On Wednesday 9^th October 2013 I made Anzac biscuits. Something that I thought went well was the way I used my time wisely, the measuring of the ingredients and reading the recipe properly so I knew exactly what to do and how to do it. Something that I would do different next time is leave my Anzac biscuits in the oven for a bit longer.

The appearance of my Anzac biscuits was really good. They were golden brown and looked round with smooth edges. They tasted delicious, they weren't too sweet but were extremely moreish and had a smooth texture.

It is tradition to roll the Anzac biscuit dough into a ball and then flatten the ball with a fork …