Danish Pastries My Way

I'm feeling generous. Only a few posts on the board and I am sharing one of my most prized recipes with you.

I first made these when the kids were in primary school, oh about 14ish years ago or thereabouts. Golly gosh that sounds like such a long time ago. Anyhow I remember what a hit they were with adults and teachers especially, not so much the kids. Funny that. I recall one particular mother begging me for the recipe and I was very secretive and mean and didn't give it to her. Feeling like I had hit the culinary jackpot these little danishes have stayed with me and they have been made many, many times and I never once shared my recipe.

It's funny how time changes one's perspective on things. Sure here is the picture and here is the recipe and I hope it turns out great for you, but, hmmm, but there is this nagging little voice inside of me saying "what the hell; are you nuts; this is your little gem; your special recipe that was exclusively yours; the recipe you held onto for so long; what the hell are you doing". Well, I guess I have entered the blogosphere and that means "sharing'. Like so many of you who are sharing your lives, your memories and your special recipes.

So here I am sharing a part of me with all of you and it feels good.

Now that you have discovered this gem of a recipe it is time to try it.

I generally use two cans of fruit to make these danishes however bear in mind you will have excess fruit left over. When I first began to make the recipe I only ever used a one 425gm can of apricots and found that was perfect to make a whole batch of 18. However over time I loved the variety and colour that adding cherries made so that is what I do now. Incidentally the can size has reduced 10gm since then. Typical.

Once the danishes are just done, I take them out and brush them generously with a good quality jam or marmalade. Apricot jam works really well however if you have a special homemade jar of something in the fridge then go for it. Experiment away. I ran out of my prizewinning cumquat marmalade so I used my mandarin jelly instead for this latest batch. It added such a delicious tangyness. My son declared, "the best ever mum".

Do not be tempted to overload each danish. If you do the fruit may literally be turfed off the pastry as it rises. I also recommend the fruit be very well drained, use a few sheets of paper towelling to remove the excess liquid. No one wants soggy pastries.

I also use a good quality store bought puff pastry. For those of you really serious pastry-made-from-scratch people, sorry to disappoint. For the rest of us mere mortals, let's get cracking!

Easy Danish Pastries

415gm can of apricot halves in light syrup, really well drained
200gm cream cheese
2tbsp castor sugar
1tsp cornflour
1 egg yolk
1/2tsp vanilla extract
2 sheets Puff Pastry
1/2 cup apricot jam

Preheat oven to moderately high. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Place cream cheese, sugar, cornflour, egg yolk and vanilla extract into a small mixing bowl or small food processor. Mix or blend till very well combined and mixture is smooth.

Cut each pastry sheet into thirds vertically and horizontally. You will end up with nine squares per sheet.

Place a generous teaspoonful of the cream cheese mixture onto each square. Top with your fruit piece or pieces; remember do not overload.

Bring together two opposite corners of each square over the fruit; press the corners together to stick and secure with a wooden toothpick. This should be directly over the fruit in the centre of each danish.

Place onto baking tray; reduce temperature to 180deg; bake till pastry is puffed & just done. Usually takes about 15mins.

Remove from oven; carefully take out the toothpicks; brush each danish generously with the warmed apricot jam. Return to the oven for another 5 mins. The danishes should have a nice sheen on them. Place pastries on baking rack; allow to cool.

This recipe makes 18 danishes and like all danishes they are definitely best eaten on the same day.

Warning: Be prepared to be hounded for this recipe!

New Shoes

This is what happens when I go for a walk down on the farm in brand new shoes.

I needed new "farmy" shoes anyhow and now it looks like I have them. Officially christened!

Avocado Overload

Whatever you do, don't look up!

An avocado is more than likely to explode all over the top of your head, and the seed may well knock you out! It's great to have heaps of avocadoes but it can definitely be a health hazard.

Having an abundance of avoes can also be a battleground. At night there are flying foxes screeching and fighting with each other to get to the fruit. Possums run riot as the strength of the branches are severely tested. To top it off nasty rodents chomp away leaving fruit with holes in them. Battered and bruised avocadoes lying on the ground in the morning reflect the extent of the battle that took place the night before. Some nights are worse than others; I wonder if the weather has something to do with it.

Battles aside, the tree is splendid and strong and stubborn. It continues to thrive under testing conditions and provides us with the most amazing tasty fruit. Being next to the chicken pen would certainly ensure lots of nutrients from all the chook poop lying around. Ahh, nature is a wonderful thing. We are so blessed with beautiful salads and tangy guacamole.

And the sounds of the animal kingdom orchestra are performed in avocado land every night.

Moments

Wandering outside on this beautiful sunny day I take time to visit our kiwi vine which is about 20 years old. All the branches are intertwined and overlapping and there is such a sense of history as I stand there.

All the rodents our dear jack russell has chased under here; and caught! Not every time though. The rubber tyres stored nearby and the kids playing with them when they were little. The cubby house attached to the vine and all the innocent sounds of children at play that came from there. The chickens and the roosters that used to perch themselves on the tyres and the logs underneath. They still do today.

However dear Rosie (jack russell) no longer chases rodents. We hope she is around to enjoy her sixteeth birthday next year. And I guess the only children playing under here again will be grandchildren. If I ever get so lucky. No pressure kids in case you are reading! Seriously, no pressure. Live your lives and do what you need to do to create your own history. And maybe plant a kiwi vine or a coffee tree or any tree that has a long life span. Your tree may remind you of many memories one day. Just like my kiwi vine today.

Ziggy and Baby

Meet Ziggy and Baby. This is often the view I am blessed with when I look "through my kitchen window". Aren't they simply gorgeous.

Eggstraordinary

Nothing compares to good old fashion free range eggs. My dear neighbour is a lady from Europe and she sells eggs to ladies from her community. She has trouble keeping up with supplies. I am one of her suppliers but with six chooks and cooking needs of my own, she is lucky to get two dozen a week from me.

Last time she asked me not to wipe them properly because one customer wondered if she were buying them herself and selling them as "free range". Needless to say she was very offended and decided not to remove any marks from the shell so as to prove they were from her barn. So that is the reason behind my "blemished" eggs. Not to mention uneven size. Some of them are so big that the egg carton simply cannot be closed. Despite the fact that they are extra large containers too.

Anyhow the bottom line is my chookies are very happy girls and that becomes loud and clear when I crack open one of their marvels to reveal rich yellow and orange yolks. I never take the eggs for granted and they always make a difference to the overall result in a dish especially in baked goodies. Eggstraordinary girls, keep it up.

Carrot Cake

Wow my first photo. Thanks Mitch. Taken on our beautiful rosewood table built by hubby over twenty years ago. As for posting photos, I shall probably need help again. It's an ongoing ocean of learning this technology stuff. I'll take cooking any day.
I iced what was left of the cake with a combination of icing sugar, cream cheese and passionfruit juice. Together with a cup of tea it was delicious. So easy and no mucking around with mix masters or beaters. No excuses for what is truly the simplest of cakes.
Carrot Cake
180gm self raising flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
2/3 cup light olive oil
2 free range eggs
2 carrots, grated
1/2 cup roughly chopped almonds

• Preheat oven to moderate temperature. Mix together sifted flour, sugar, spices.
• Add eggs & oil & mix well till thoroughly combined
• Stir in carrots & almonds.
• Pour into a tin lined with baking paper; bake for approx 40 -45 mins.
• Place onto wire rack. Cool slightly before turning out.
• Spread with your favourite icing if desired.

Lazy Sunday

I christened a new baking tin. I purchased it in Melbourne when I visited my lovely daughter last November. So yeah I guess it's taken a while to pull it out and see how my carrot cake looked in a very long log tin. And the verdict is "very, very nice". I can see myself putting it to good use especially when a cake is needed for a crowd or group of people. It would cut up into heaps of even slices so that is very appealing.

Hubby got stuck into the cake before I had a chance to ice it as it was still warm. He liked it. He asked what was the spice that came through. Freshly grated nutmeg. Boy that makes a difference compared to the powdery stuff that comes already ground and has completely lost it's flavour. There is no comparison.

Mitch is out the back mowing the lawn, or the bush I should say. The grass reaches our backsides when we walk down there so it was getting a little desperate. The main reason for the attention though is that hubby spotted two foxes at 4am fighting underneath the avocado tree. There are heaps of avocadoes just lying around the bottom and he seems to think they must be eating them. Thankfully the chickens were locked, but the worry is they are visiting us and I do wonder about the loss of five of our guinea pigs recently. Would foxes come so close to the house? After all the guineas live just outside my kitchen window. Scary thought actually. Anyhow the grass is being cleared and then an action plan is being hatched about how to get them. Boys and their toys. Or guns should I say.

My photographic daughter is still too busy to find the time to teach me how to post photos, so here lies my site still unphotographed. Looking rather dull, yes I know. Hopefully I will be able to post something soon as my dear son is feeling sorry for me, and although not an expert himself at least he can find the time to help me. Appreciate it Borb. I have lots of affectionate nicknames for my kids, especially "photographic daughter" but it looks like the Borb got first mention.

Time for another cup of tea, piece of uniced cake and read of the newpaper.

Waiting for autumn

There is a a slight change in the weather finally. Cooler at night and cooler in the mornings, but still fairly hot during the day. Oh how I long for a cold day, all day. But autumn is definitely on the way. I can't say adios to summer soon enough.

All the guinea pigs, all five of them are still here. Thank goodness. I couldn't see Coon for a while but he eventually showed up. Relief. I have noticed a greater sense of reservation on their part. They are not staying in the open for very long and they run, run, run as fast as they can to get from one area to the next. Maybe their sense of danger has finally been heightened with the loss of half the clan. They are such a joy to watch nibbling, dashing, sunning themselves and searching for food, doing what free range guinea pigs do I suppose.

Gosh the house needs attention. The kitchen needs a big clean up, washing to do, vacuuming, general tidying up everywhere. So here I choose to be ignoring it writing to you instead. I am a master at procrastination. Always have been. It's my biggest downfall in life.

Having said that I still have a chocolate sugar syrup made ready to turn into a chocolate cake. It seems when there is no room to move in the kitchen I can still find time and space to make chocolate cake. One of life's necessities I suppose. When everything is falling apart eat chocolate cake. Yep.

Hubby has had his operation cancelled for a month. The doctors seem to think they will remove the stent and see how he goes without it for a month. If there is no reoccurrence he may not have to have the surgery. Tricky times as it appears hard to know what the best thing is to do. Still hubby is pleased with that approach. Who can argue with that? After all, I wouldn't want an operation unless it was totally essential. Fingers crossed.

I asked my never-at-home-daughter if she would be home for dinner tonight. Upon hearing lamb roast was on the menu she promptly said yes. There is nothing like a roast to make one feel homely and warm and in a way I guess valued. Wow four of us eating at the table tonight, that is a rare occurence these days.

The wind is rustling through the trees and the branches are gently swaying. I could close my eyes and listen to nature doing its thing. So calming.

But I look around and reality hits with a bang; mess needs attention; but first of all I need to go and put that cake together. After all, when a little work is done, there is nothing like homemade chocolate cake to reward one's efforts.

Through My Kitchen Window

Well, no point mucking about. I have been thinking of starting my blog for about three years now and its always the same. I'm not sure how to post photos, I'm not that computer literate, I don't know where to begin, I can't think of a clever blog name.
Yep I've had enough and I am biting the bullet and putting myself out there. Jeepers. Yep, don't look back. I'm on my way. Holey dooley. Am I sure? Yep. It's on.

Trying to think of a clever name has been a major obstacle you see. I am a little bit of a foodie as you will discover over time so this in itself has presented problems for me. What to use? I love capsicums, chocolate, limes (nah Kathryn from limes and lycopene won't be happy), oranges (nah molly from orangette won't be happy) and so it goes. Nearly settled for cumquat marmalade because of the blue ribbons my recipe has won, but, nah.

So here I am today looking out my kitchen window for inspiration and then it came to me. Everytime I look through my kitchen window I see nature in all it's glory and life in all its forms as it passes by or simply happens. Often it is at times like these that I get inspired or an idea or a recipe comes to me and off I go. Simply disconnecting myself from "things" and taking a moment to savour the beauty of nature is enough to prompt me into action. How lucky am I to have a kitchen window? I have never actually thought of it that way until right at this moment.

So there it is. Through My Kitchen Window.

It's a sad day through my kitchen window actually because little Penny is no longer there. Last week we had nine guinea pigs and now we are down to five. Not sure what got the father and two of Ziggy's latest babies but we did see some evidence of a dog nearby. So we started to shut the gate at night. However no Penny this morning. Her lovely ruffly little white coat with patches of black and brown and the funny way she scratched herself till she fell over is a sight I shall miss.

I phoned Nicole (my beautiful daughter) and gave her the bad news. She cried. She was hoping to breed some more and Penny of course had a major role to play there. Perhaps it was an owl at night. There is no way we can know for sure. Still, she had a great life, albeit a short one. If I had my choice I would rather live like Penny did, free to roam around all day rather than be caged. The down side is there are risks. Rest in peace Penny.

My pizza day was a success yesterday. There were ten people in the class and they all left with smiles on their faces so I'm guessing they had fun. Oh the options with pizza are endless. I shall share them with you down the track, but right now my favourite pizza sauce would be marinated capsicum with shavings of garlic and some of the marinade oil. Spread that over the base, top with finely sliced red onion, diced green capsicum, slices of cevapcici (skinless balkan sausages), some feta and a little bocconcini. Wow what an explosion of flavour bursting all over the palate. Just like a true Balkan, full of fire.

Mitch (my balkan loving son) was telling me yesterday I should run my own pizza place out in the hills of the hinterland. That way at least I might make some money. I hear you Mitch, I hear you. The time is still not right but I hear you mate. Hey wait a minute, the time was never right to start a blog either but here I am. My first post. Upwards and onwards.