Eating Melbourne

Baptist Pikelets

Certain foods come loaded with associations. For me, it's those little buttered pancakes we used to call pikelets. The minute I see them I’m back in the Baptist church hall that was my second home through childhood. From memory, there was an endless stream of church luncheons and teas that run into one. I remember the high A-frame ceiling, the dusty window ledges and the noisy wooden floor. There were always two long lines of trestle tables covered in light green sear-sucker tablecloths. As everyone arrived, the tables filled with the most eclectic yet predictable array of goodies, all plated and ready to share.

There were the endless platters of sandwiches of varying size and shape, countless dishes of tuna casserole and pasta bake, and if we were lucky, a solitary dish of the most exotic little meatballs in a thick sauce of French onion soup and pineapple pieces. Even more memorable (and voluminous) were the sweets: the tea cakes and cream sponges, the buttered nut loaf and fruit sones, chocolate, lemon and caramel slices, rum-less rum balls (we were Baptists!), and every now and then a lone pavlova smothered in whipped cream and a grated peppermint crisp bar; it never lasted long.

But the thing I remember most warmly is the pikelets. Why? Not really sure. They were certainly not the tastiest thing on offer, but they were reliable … comforting … always sufficiently sweet but understated. And they looked good. Flat and smooth little discs of varnish brown surrounded by a ring of creamy white. I liked them.

Ali had a friend for a sleepover last night so we decided to make them for dessert. Not quite as I remember … better … fresh from the skillet, smothered in roasted strawberries, thick cream and drizzled with a warm chocolate sauce. Ok, so not quite the church luncheon variety, but as I flipped each batch onto the plate and watched them mount up, I decided here’s one Baptist tradition worth keeping.

Want to try?

Ingredients:

Juice of half a lemon
400ml of milk
300g of plain flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
pinch of salt
80g of caster sugar
2 eggs

Method:

• Combine the lemon juice and milk and set aside
• Sift the flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt into a mixing bowl.
• Whisk the eggs lightly and add to the flour.
• Gradually add the milk mixture, whisking together by hand and ensuring all the lumps are whisked out as you go. When complete, the mixture should resemble the thickness of a heavy double cream.
• Set the mixture aside for 30 minutes or so—not necessary, but it’ll help to make the pikelets lighter.
• Heat a non-stick frypan and drop in large spoonfuls of batter. In a few moments the pikelets will set with small bubbles forming on the surface. At this stage, flip each one over with a spatula and cook the other side for a few minutes. Tip them out onto a platter and continue with the next batch. Best to cover the cooked ones with a clean tea towel to keep them warm as you go.
• They can be served with butter, jam, or lemon and sugar. But if you want to go the whole hog, whip some cream and roast some strawberries to serve with them. Simply quarter a punnet of strawberries and spread them in an oven tray, sprinkle with castor sugar and bake in a pre-heated moderate oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove them and let them cool a little.

Provide some plates, serviettes and some hot fudge sauce to drizzle over the top and let the family at ‘em. They wont last long, I promise.

Ali’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Actually, the recipe isn’t mine. But Dad and I have made these cookies so many times I think I have the right to rename them! I have to take some cookies to school camp soon, and these ones are definitely going. I love them and so will you.

Here’s what you need:

125g of softened butter
1 cup of brown sugar
A few drops of vanilla
1 egg
1 cup of plain flour
1 cup of self-raising flour
1 cup of desiccated coconut
300g of chocolate chips (I recommend a mixture of both dark and white chocolate chips)

And here’s how you make them:

• Combine the butter, vanilla and sugar in a mixer and cream together for around 10 minutes.
• Add the egg and continue creaming until well blended.
• Add the flours, coconut and chocolate and stir through gently until well combined.
• Roll small handfuls into balls, place evenly spaced on a baking tray and flatten slightly with the back end of a fork.
• Bake in an oven pre-heated to 190C for around 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the cookies from oven and let them cool on the tray.

Serving these cookies while they’re still warm is the best, along with a glass of milk or, even better, a hot chocolate. The recipe only makes 20 cookies so you might have to double the ingredients 'cause they are so yummy!

Baumkuchen

Ok, so our German is hopeless, but our cake making skills are not half bad. At least we think so. We dug up a slightly yellowed old recipe this past week. Simon got it years ago from a German pastry cook, a grumpy but endearing old woman who taught him most of what he knows about cakes.

A baumkuchen is, in more familiar language, a tree cake, supposedly one of the most treasured creations in the German bakery. It’s created in layers with a pastry brush, each layer cooked under the salamander or grill. The end result looks wonderful and doesn’t taste half bad either.

Give it a try!

Ingredients:

300 grams good quality butter
300 grams of sugar
finely grated rind of one lemon
6 eggs
A dash of rum
100 grams of finely crushed nuts
150 grams of cornflour
150 grams of plain flour

Method:

Cream together the butter, sugar and lemon rind for a good 15 minutes, adding eggs slowly and one at a time.

Add remaining ingredients and mix for a further 5 minutes.

Grease a medium sized cake tin. With a pastry brush, brush a small amount of mixture into the base of the tin (similar to a crepe) and place under the salamander of grill until nicely cooked. Continue doing so, cooking each layer, one on top of the other until the mixture is used up.

Let the finished cake cool then tip out of the tin. Leaving upside down, coat the cake (top and sides) with a thin layer of copha-based chocolate icing. To make the icing, add around 30 grams of melted copha to 150 grams of sifted icing sugar mixed with 30 grams of cocoa.

Let the cake sit for at least an hour or so, preferably a day, before slicing it through and serving with a good coffee or a hot chocolate.

Enjoy!

Chicken soup for the soul

Here’s our tried and true family recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup, one of our favourites. This past Sunday night, when it was cold and wet outside, this brew—served with some crusty, chewy bread—hit the spot. It’s one of those stand-your-fork-up-in-it types, probably more stew than soup, but when it’s cold on the outside, this stuff is good for the soul.

It must be said, we do have a rather troubling difference of opinion on ingredients. Ali would prefer the purist version: chicken, noodles and soup (read chicken stock). No green or orange additives allowed! Simon, on the other hand, reckons it’s just not right without some good ol’ fashioned vegies thrown in, just like Grandma used to make. So, delete or add at will. Either way, enjoy!

This is how you do it.

Season and roast a good size whole chicken in the oven, then let it stand on the top of the stove to cool and rest.

Grab a boiler or large saucepan and melt in it a good tablespoon of butter (give the margarine a miss).

Throw in a couple of roughly diced onions, some crushed garlic, and a rasher of bacon cut into small pieces. No need to cook it too much, just enjoy the aroma until the onions sweat.

If you dare (and the kids aren’t looking), add in two or three carrots, a leek or two, and a couple of sticks of celery, all roughly diced as small as you like them.

Pour in enough chicken stock (homemade or the ready-made cartons from the supermarket .. but don’t go near that powdered stuff) to cover it all well, bring to a gentle boil and simmer away for 15 minutes or so.

Throw in a handful of uncooked pasta (spaghetti works well, as long as you break it down in shorter stands) and a diced potato if it sounds good. Simmer for another ten minutes or until the pasta is done.

Pull your chicken apart, set the skin aside, strip the meat from the bones and break it up into pieces. Good size chunks work best. Don’t do the small-dice thing. There’s nothing better than looking into your bowl of steaming soup to see great mouthfuls of tender chicken just begging to be eaten.

Season to taste and serve with good dose of fresh coriander (or parsley if your prefer) and some bread that’s worth eating.

This really has to be served in front of the telly, all on the one couch, blankets provided, while you watch the footy replay or the latest Funniest Home Videos.

You can’t do better!