Basic Crepes

My parents gave us a crepe maker appliance for christmas this year, tried it out today with a basic recipe for crepes that I found on taste.com.au. There's a trick to spreading the batter evenly, I reckon I need practice!

Makes
12 crepes

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
2 cups milk
3 eggs
olive oil cooking spray

Method
Sift flour into a bowl. Whisk milk and eggs together in a jug. Add milk mixture to flour. Whisk until well combined.

Spray a medium, non-stick frying pan with oil. Heat over medium heat. Pour 2 1/2 tablespoons batter into pan. Swirl to cover base. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until light golden. Turn over and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to a plate. Cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter.

Self-saucing Chocolate Pudding

Yet another old favourite.

1 cup self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp of vanilla essence
3/4 cup sugar
2 tblsp cocoa
1/2 cup milk
2 tblsp butter

Sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 1/4 cups boiling water

Sift dry pudding ingredients into a bowl. Gradually stir in milk, vanilla and melted butter. Once the mixture is smooth and lumps are removed pour it into a oven dish.

Mix together the sauce ingredients. Gently pour the ingredients over the uncooked pudding base. Bake in a moderate oven (180c) for 40 minutes.

Impossible Pie

One of my favourite desserts as a kid, with a lovely egg custard centre.

4 eggs
2 tblsp melted butter
1/2 cup plain flour
2 cups milk
1 cup coconut
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

Blend all ingredients and pour into greased pie dish. Bake at 180C for one hour.

Cheesecake Brownie

150g butter, chopped
300g dark cooking chocolate, chopped
3 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup sour cream
1 x 250g pkt cream cheese, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a square 20cm (base measurement) cake pan. Line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.
2. Combine the butter and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.
3. Whisk 2 of the eggs in a small bowl. Add whisked eggs and 2/3 cup of the sugar to the chocolate mixture, and stir to combine. Add the flour and sour cream and stir until well combined.
4. Beat the cream cheese and remaining sugar in a bowl until smooth. Add the remaining egg and beat until just combined.
5. Spoon chocolate and cream cheese mixtures, alternately, over base of pan. Use a skewer to swirl to create a marble effect. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan for 1 hour to cool. Cut into squares to serve.

From www.taste.com.au

Baked Lemon Cheesecake

From taste.com.au

1 pkt Nice biscuits
1 tsp cinnamon
125g unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
2 x 250g pkts cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 tblsp finely grated lemon rind
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 tblsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 x 300g carton sour cream, at room temperature

Lightly grease a springform cakepan with some of the melted butter. Crush biscuits into fine crumbs. Add cinnamon and remaining melted butter, combine thoroughly. Press along base and sides of pan. Refrigerate for 20 mins.

Preheat oven to 160 C. Place cream cheese in bowl and beat on low speed until it has a smooth consistency (about 2 - 3 mins), scraping down sides of bowl several times. Add sugar and lemon rind, lightly beat a further 1 - 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, then lemon juice beating well to combine after each addition.

In a second bowl place sour cream, and about a cup of the cream cheese mixture and beat to a smooth consistency. This helps to avoid lumps. Add the remaining cream cheese mixture and beat lightly until combined.

Pour into prepared shell and bake on lower shelf for 1 hour 10 mins. The cheesecake will rise very lightly and have a slight wobble when side of pan is bumped with wooden spoon. Allow cheesecake to cool in oven, leaving door slightly ajar.

Refrigerate when completely cooled.