Tinkerblue

Jaffa Jelly Slice

I warn you this is going to be long winded.

Have you seen the show on telly, Upper Middle Bogan? It's hilarious? If you're not an Aussie or haven't spent time here you may not get the humour. Take my word for it, it's very funny. 

In one episode we watched one of the characters mentions she used the New Idea recipe for satay chicken lasagna. 

 

 

 

Jo immediately decided we needed to make it. But no amount of googling could find a New Idea recipe for Satay Chicken Lasagna. So Claire volunteered to bake one.

I was assigned dessert. Jo informed me it couldn't be an ordinary dessert it had to be a classic with a twist just like mixing lasagna and satay. Ummm okay.

We thought about jelly slice with chocolate frogs in it but every kid in Australia has had jelly slice with chocolate frogs for a birthday at some point. That wasn't twisty enough for Jo.

 

 

We love Jaffa pudding. When I was home in March we ate our weights worth of Jaffa pudding. But it's not sold in Tassie anymore! How dare they! Don't know what a Jaffa is? It's a ball of chocolate covered in a hard orange candy shell. We always bought a bag of Jaffa when we went to the pictures (movies) as kids.

 

 

So Jaffa Jelly Slice it was. I couldn't find a recipe but let's face it Jelly Slice is not exactly a complicated thing to make.

 

 

Base:

• One packet of girl guide biscuits
• One packets of Jaffa
• Hunk of butter 
• Crush biscuits and Jaffas together
• Melt butter
• Mix with biscuits and Jaffas
• Line bottom of pan with biscuit mix
• Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes or so

 

 

Middle Layer:
One packet of chocolate mousse mix
Milk (tells you in the side of the box how much you need)
Make mousse according to instructions on side of mousse mix box
Pour mousse on top of biscuit layer
Refrigerate, again.

 

 

Jelly layer:
One box of orange jelly crystals
Make jelly according to instructions on side of jelly box (told you jelly slice isn't hard to make)
Cool jelly in fridge for a bit and make sure the mousse has set.
Pour jelly on top of mousse
Refrigerate for 4 hours

 

 

Cut with a hot knife and serve.

Verdict:
Claire and I both found the chicken satay lasagna to be good but a little heavy. Jo loved it and a week later is still eating the left overs. We all loved the Jaffa jelly slice.

 

LLoyds of Avalon Salt Water Taffy - Catalina Island

 

I'm a chocolate girl.  I normally dislike hard lollies (candy) like toffee etc, and chewy lollies - bleh.  But every Monday I walk past Lloyds of Avalon.  They are famous for their toffee apples (candy apples), peanut brittle and fudge.  They've been around since the 1930's.  So they must be good.  

 

 

I went inside fully intending to buy some ooey, gooey, chocolatey goodness.

 

 

Or maybe a peanut butter cup...

 

 

But instead I went with something I wouldn't normally choose...

 

 

Salt Water Taffy

 

 

There are hundreds of flavours to choose from.  Okay so not quite a hundred, but lots.

 

 

Guess what? I actually kind of liked it.  I tried the lemon, amaretto, chocolate, chocolate mint and vanilla chocolate swirl.  The lemon was my favourite, no surprise there as it's the one flavour I like almost as much as chocolate. 

 

 

I don't think I need to eat anymore. I still prefer chocolate.  Do you like salt water taffy? Let me know, maybe I'll send you some! Next time I want to try the frozen Mexican spiced cocoa.  It sounds good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drinking Buffalo Milk on Catalina Island

Remember when Victoria, Jorge and I had Bushwackers in St Thomas? Well I've found an almost rival for it. It even comes with a view, even though I didn't need to ride a cable car to get here.
Buffalo Milk on Catalina Island.
No, they did not go out and milk a herd of buffalo. Although there are a lot of buffalo on Catalina. They were brought over here in the 1920's for a movie and then left on the island afterwards.
What's in it? Creme de cocoa Kahlua Creme de banana Vodka A banana A bit of milk Some ice Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with nutmeg. I prefer the Bushwacker but the Buffalo Milk is pretty good too.

Chocolate of the Caribbean - Moho Chocolate, Belize

 

Moho Chocolate was pretty much the only reason we got off the ship and took the world's longest tender ride to shore. Well that and an internet connection.

 

 

Moho Chocolate is located right in the port compound - or it's official name is Fort Street Tourism Village.  It's between terminal 3 and 4. 

 

 

They have a small cafe inside, the chocolate factory, and an outdoor bar. Inside you can order hot or cold coffees, milkshakes, tea smoothies and icecream.  I had both the Oreo cookie milkshake and the Humble Monkey.  So very good.  A little on the sweet side, so splitting one milkshake between two people might have been a better idea.

 

 

We could have toured the chocolate factory. I think the tour is about $2.00 and you get to make your own chocolate bars.  We never actually did this, not sure why.  Maybe David or Victoria or Jorge can tell me why we didn't?

 

 

We did however enjoy their free samples. Many times over.  Sure we could try plain dark or milk chocolate or dark or milk chocolate with almonds. But why would we? Instead we tried the dark/milk with chili, dark/milk with ginger, dark/milk with cocoa nibs, and dark/milk with salt and lime. Can you guess which was my favourite?

 

 

Moho Chocolate was established in 2012, and its name is taken from the Moho River Valley in Belize where the cocoa beans are grown.  Did you know chocolate is good for you? It is.  It helps build a strong immune system, aids digestion, helps with absorption of calcium and makes better bones!

 

 

The week before Christmas Jorge and I decided we would finally treat ourselves to a chocolately drink at the bar outside.  We had a Moho Buzz. Once upon a time I knew exactly what was in it.  I do remember Bailey's, Kahlua and ice being mentioned.  It was very, very good.

 

 

They had free wifi, so Jorge and I sat and savoured our drinks and facebooked everyone so they could be jealous!  Sorry.

 

 

 

Chocolate of the Caribbean - Kakaw, Roatan

Victoria and I used to get off the ship in Roatan every other week specifically to buy this chocolate.  It's sold from a small stall right in the port area, amongst the souvenirs and coffee.

 

 

They import their cacao from Nicaragua and really only use two ingredients  - cacao and cane sugar. The best part? Because there are no milk products etc it doesn't melt.  We could buy it in the morning, spend a couple of hours relaxing on the beach and the bars would still be solid when we got back to our cabin.

 

 

We'd buy the assorted 4 pack and split it, 2 bars each.  Unlike the Kaokao chocolate in Cozumel, these actually made it back to the ship.  Some even got sent to Australia and Canada as Christmas gifts.

 

 

From memory there are only 4 different bars.  50/50 cacao, coffee and cashew nuts,  cacao nibs, and dark .  There maybe a 5th one, but if there is I don't remember what it is.  My favourite is the cacao nibs.  I think I have eaten quite a lot of Kakaw chocolate over the duration of my contract. 

 

 

 

Chocolate of the Caribbean - Kaokao Chocolates Damarsicheli

I love chocolate.  Plain milk chocolate is my favourite.  I have developed a liking for dark chocolate over the last year or two.  White chocolate? Bleh.  Don't like it at all.  So of course I managed to find some locally made chocolate in the Caribbean. 3 brands.  There's probably more but these are the ones I found and like.

Kakao Chocolate - Cozumel, Mexico

 

 

Kakao is a tiny little "factory" in Cozumel.  Jorge, Marissa and I took a cab from the port. It took less than 10 minutes to get there.  We were meeting friends elsewhere so we didn't have time to do the tour, we just did a tasting.  The tasting was fee, the tour is $10.00.  

 

 

We tried the Mocha/Cafe, the coconut/coco, the Milk/con leche, white/blanco, hazelnut/avellana, and dark/oscuro noir.  Not suprisingly I liked the milk and the hazelnut, suprisingly I liked the Mocha and of course I hated the white.  But at least I tried it.  My favourite?  The seasonal chocolate they were making for the Christmas season - with Cactus and hot chili.  It was good. 

 

 

We also tried the honey with cocoa nibs, which was good but I still prefer leatherwood honey or fireweed honey.  We all said we'd go back another time and do the tour.  On the tour you get to make your own chocolate and try the hot chocolate. I like the hot chocolate discs.  I'm pretty sure I still have some (different brand) in my storage locker in Vancouver.  

 

 

We each bought a couple of bars of chocolate and then took our cab to meet our friends at the beach. I'm pretty sure all three of us ate our chocolates before we left the beach. I don't think any of it made it back to the boat.

Guy's Burger Joint

Carnival and Guy Fieri teamed up to add Guy's Burger Joint to the Carnival ships.  Last week Natalia and I were port manning and couldn't get off the ship to one day we had lunch at Guy's.

 

The burger was good, I had "The Ringer" - the straight up burger with S.M.C. (special melty cheese), Guy's bourbon and brown sugar BBQ sauce and a righteous Rojo ring. The toppings were endless. It was nice to have something different from the crew food.

 

No Bake Chocolate Oat Bar

Last week a friend shared this recipe on Facebook from the Mouthful of Yum page. I book marked it and forgot about it.  I can't make chocolate bars like this when it's just me at home, other wise I eat the whole pan!

 

 

Melt butter, add brown sugar and vanilla, stir in quick cook oats

 

 

Last week was the first night of the 2013 Paddler's Challenge so I decided this would be a good treat to take to share.  It's no bake, so no turning on the oven and heating up the house.  Perfect. Although I was a little worried they'd melt in the kayak before they could be eaten. Yeah, shouldn't have worried about that.

 

 

Press half of oat mixture in to 9x9 pan

 

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 3 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter

 

Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter in small, heavy saucepan

 

What to do:

• Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat
• Add brown sugar and vanilla
• Mix in oats
• Press half of mixture into 9x9 greased pan (I used parchment paper - then I can just lift the finished product out)
• Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter in heavy saucepan over low heat
• Stir frequently until smooth
• Pour chocolate mixture over crust in pan
• Crumble remaining oat mixture over top of the chocolate layer, pressing in gently
• Cover and refridgerate for 2-3 hours

 

 

Pour chocolate over oat mixture

 

 

They were really good.  I like peanut butter and chocolate together (hello peanut butter cups) so there was no question that I would like these.  They were quick and simple to make, and I only had two saucepans to wash up.  

 

 

 

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

 

Way back in April and May I stayed a few nights with my friends Loraine and Bob.  As a mini thank you I wanted to bake some treats but they needed to be gluten free. I didn't want to have to buy xantham gum and a whole bunch of different gluten free flours.  It took me a while to find a recipe that sounded doable with the ingredients I had on hand.

 

Melt butter and chocolate

I finally found one I liked the look of on Martha Stewart. It only needed 4 ingredients:

• 6 tbsps (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 8 ozs bittersweet chocolate or 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used chocolate chips)
• 6 large eggs. Yes, you read that right. 6 larges eggs! Separated and room temperature.
• 1/2 cup sugar

 

Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form

The instructions look a little intimidating, but really it's just a case of reading them all they way through before actually getting to work.

 

Add 1/4 of egg white mix to chocolate mixture

 

• Preheat oven to 275oF
• Line cupcake pan with paper liners
• Melt butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl over (not in) a pan of simmering water
• Stir to combine, remove bowl from heat, and let cool slightly
• Whisk in egg yolks, all 6 of them!
• Whisk  egg whites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form
• Gradually add sugar, beating until peaks are stiff and glossy (do not overbeat)
• Whisk one quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten
• Then gently fold chocolate mixture into remaining egg whites
• Divide batter evenly into cupcake liners (about 2/3s full)
• Bake, rotating tins half way through until cupcakes are just set in the centre, about 25 minutes
• Transfer tins to wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes

 

Fold chocolate mixture into remaining egg whites

Makes 22

 

My verdict? They were a little bit of work to make.  I have a habit of overbeating the eggs. Still it was better than having to combine a bunch of different flours and a stabiliser. I also think they were a little bitter tasting, but then I'm a milk chocolate girl, so I think that's just personal preference.  They are really good served warm with a scoop of vanilla icecream.  

 

All done - the tops are supposed to crack and sink like that!

 

Will I make them again? Maybe, but not for a while, there are other recipes I want to try first.

Pillows of Lemony Goodness - Lemon Sugar Cookies

 

Lemon is almost my favourite flavour. After chocolate, of course. Lemon meringues, lemon curd, lemon tea, slice of lemon in water, sour cream lemon pie, Michelle's BBQ lemon chicken, lemon green beans, lemon chicken from the local Chinese restaurant, lemon ricotta pancakes...

 

 

 

So when I stumbled across this recipe for lemon sugar cookies with lemon buttercream frosting from Mother Thyme I just had to make them. Had to make them. I even had everything I needed on hand, including lemons. Doesn't everyone have a supply of lemons?

 

 

So what did I think?

These were a little time consuming to make, but only because the dough needs to be refridgerated for an hour. I ended up getting side tracked and the dough stayed in the fridge for about 90 minutes. Maybe because it was in the fridge for so long, the dough was quite hard to roll out.  It just kept cracking and tearing.  I didn't have any cookie cutters so I used an upside down water glass. The recipe says it makes a dozen cookies.  I cut out 24 cookies, and they were huge.  It also said the cookies would spread due to the baking powder, mine didn't. The baked cookie was the same size as the unbaked cookie. Which is a good thing.   Next time I'll use a smaller glass and make more cookies. 

 

 

These were soooooooo good. They were soft and fluffy and very lemony.  I inhaled two while waiting for the second batch to bake.  The sugar rush was not good. At this size, one cookie is more than enough.  That said I will make these again.  They are too good not to.  Just typing this out is making me drool.  Maybe I'll make them on Friday for my birthday treat.