There is nothing better than waking up early in the morning, fetching some toast and then spending a good half hour pondering around food blogs. The only problem is it always makes me wish I was eating something better than toast.
Hello and welcome to my blog, Sixteen Cupcakes. Finally, after being an avid food blog browser for years, I finally have a place to call my very own on here. A little about me to start off with, my name is Savannah (hello!) and I am 16 years old (hence Sixteen Cupcakes). I live in the south island of New Zealand in the down-under corner of the globe – and I’m a passionate baker and food addict. Nothing gets me going more than food, cooking and baking – so, I have decided to share my baking creations with the rest of the online food community, and hopefully give back a slice of what it has given me.
As my first post, I decided to share these Benedict Bars, which I found here, http://lisaiscooking.blogspot.com/2009/04/benedict-bars.html – Lisa is cooking’s blog . It is, one of the many recipe’s that have made me drool while on one of my morning blog browse sessions – I had to make it. Let me say I’m so glad I did. The shortbread crust melted into the tang of wildberry jam and the sweet crunch of the almond topping – I think you know where I’m going with this. It was perfect.
Do yourself a favour and do try these, you will be so glad you did. Until next time – happy baking !
Benedict Bar
First prepare the shortbread crust:
150 g unsalted butter
225 g plain flour (All purpose flour)
4 T corn flour
1/2 t baking powder
125 caster sugar (granulated sugar) + more for sprinkling into pan
1/4 t sea salt
1 t vanilla extract
-spray a 24 x 20cm (I used an eight inch square pan, but slightly larger would also work) with cooking spray and sprinkle with sugar
-dice the butter straight from the refrigerator into a mixing bowl and leave to soften for 30 minutes; sift the flour, cornflour, and baking powder on top, then add the sugar, salt, and vanilla; rub together between your fingertips until the mixtures begins to cohere (Or, place in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the paddle attachment until it resembles breadcrumbs.)
-press into the prepared pan and chill in the refrigerator while making the topping
Bars:
100g unsalted butter
60g caster sugar (granulated sugar)
1 t vanilla extract
200g flaked almonds
3 T milk
raspberry jam (or blackcurrant jelly or whatever jam or jelly you have)
-preheat oven to 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F [Here’s a handy conversion tool: http://www.metric-conversions.org/temperature/celsius-to-fahrenheit.htm]
– put butter, sugar, vanilla, almonds, and milk in a small saucepan over low heat, and warm until the butter melts; remove from heat and allow to cool
-remove shortbread from refrigerator and spread a layer of jam on top; pour cooled, melted butter mixture over top; bake for 25 to 30 minutes and then allow to cool on a rack; chill in the refrigerator for one hour to make cutting easier
sixteencupcakes 