ANZAC Day 2020

Light Up The Dawn: A commemoration of resilience and spirit.

Styling and photography ©Michelle Hartnett 2020. All rights reserved.

I have no doubt that this year’s ANZAC Day (April 25) will have many of us thinking very deeply about what it means to “serve” and be “of service” to others in this time of huge change in our world. As the Covid-19 pandemic prevents us from gathering for our traditional ANZAC services and marches, we are instead being asked to join together in spirit and ‘Light Up the Dawn’. At 6AM, we are invited to light a candle and stand at the end of our driveway, in our living room, at our window, or on our balcony and take a few moments to reflect and pay our respects to our war veterans and service personnel, both past and present. There is also a ‘Light up the Dawn’ app, featuring a virtual candle, the ANZAC Ode and Last Post bugle call, that can be downloaded onto your phone and used during your personal commemorations. It will be an ANZAC Day like no other- perhaps one of the most significant and important in our history- as we remember the qualities and values of the original ANZACs that are now desperately needed to restore health, balance and peace to our world: resilience, courage, co-operation, determination and, above all, looking after one another come what may.

Lest We Forget.

Traditional ANZAC Biscuits

I’ve been making these chewy, delicious ANZAC biscuits for as long as I can remember. They were originally made for the Australia & New Zealand Army Corps (hence the name ANZAC biscuits) during World War 1 and included in food parcels sent to the soldiers. For me, they were part of my childhood, baked by my Mum not only for ANZAC Day (April 25), but also for our lunchboxes and as after school treats throughout the year. I loved “helping” Mum make these, eagerly waiting for my favourite part when we would add the bicarb soda and water to the melted butter and golden syrup and watch the fragrant liquid froth up like a science experiment. And then there would be no end of peeking through the oven door while we impatiently watched the biscuits spread and bake. The hardest part of baking these has always been trying not to eat the batter before the biscuits make it into the oven!! Over the years, there have been many variations on the original recipe that have been published in cookbooks and magazines, but I love the simplicity of the traditional version. This is the recipe that my Mum gave me many years ago. It will deliver a delicious, sweet biscuit with a crunchy bottom and a chewy top and centre. Perfect for dunking in a mug of strong, hot tea. Enjoy!

Styling and photography ©Michelle Hartnett 2020. All rights reserved.

INGREDIENTS: ( makes about 26 biscuits )

1 cup plain flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup desiccated coconut

3/4 cup caster sugar

pinch of salt

1/4 cup golden syrup

125 grams butter

1 heaped teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 tablespoons boiling water

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius and line two baking trays with baking paper.

2. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir in the oats, coconut, sugar and salt.

3. Place the golden syrup and butter into a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the butter has melted.

4. In a cup or small bowl, dissolve the bicarb soda in the boiling water and then add this to the butter mixture. The mixture will foam up.

5. Combine all the ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon.

6. Roughly roll tablespoons of the mixture and drop onto the trays, flattening the biscuit just a little. Make sure you allow about a two finger width (approx 4-5 cms) between each biscuit as they will spread and flatten during cooking.

7. Bake for about 12 -15 minutes, or until they are deep golden brown ( but don’t let them burn!)

8. The biscuits will be very soft when you lift them out of the oven so you’ll need to leave them on the tray for a few minutes before moving them onto wire racks to cool completely.

ANZAC biscuits will keep for up to one week in an airtight container, but I can guarantee once you start eating them it will be hard to stop!

Classic Passionfruit Slice

This divine slice is from my collection of “some-day-I’ll-make-this” recipes that I’ve snipped from magazines and newspapers. Since I first discovered it in the reader’s recipe feature of the Australian Women’s Weekly (thank-you Mrs Joyce Marsh!) ten-years ago, I’ve made it many, many, many times. There’s nothing complicated or fussy about this sweet, luscious, velvety slice with its crunchy, buttery, coconut base. It’s just an easy to make, mix-and-bake, completely delicious, good old-fashioned serve of “Yum!” that you can whip up in a couple of mixing bowls with a wooden spoon and whisk in just over half-an-hour. No need for a mix master or food processor! You will need to cool this in the tin after baking, then it’s a good idea to pop it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve to make it easy to cut into squares or triangles. I always think this slice is like serving sunshine on a plate. Enjoy!

BASE INGREDIENTS:
1 cup self-raising flour

1 cup desiccated coconut

1/2 cup caster sugar

125 grams butter

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:

395 gram can condensed milk

1/2 cup strained, freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/3 cup passionfruit pulp

The base takes only 15-minutes to bake and should be golden and crumbly when you pull it out of the oven.

BASE METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 degrees celsius fan-forced.)

2. Grease an 18cm X 28cm slice tin and line the base and side with baking paper.

3. Whisk together the flour, coconut and sugar in a mixing bowl then stir in the melted butter. Press this mixture into the baking tin ( I use the back of a spoon to press it evenly into the tin) then bake for 15- minutes.

TOPPING METHOD:

1. While the base is baking, combine the condensed milk, lemon juice and passionfruit pulp in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.

2. Pour the mixture over the hot base then pop back in the oven for a further 15-minutes.

3. Cool in the tin, pop in the fridge for about 10-minutes to make cutting easy, then serve in squares or triangles.

Happy baking!

Styling & photography by Michelle Hartnett. Images ©Michelle Hartnett 2020. All rights reserved.

Buttery French Pear Cake

I’ve been immersing myself in comfort baking lately, stocking our fridge, biscuit and cake tins with treats that we probably normally wouldn’t indulge in quite so often as we cocoon here at home, waiting out the corona-virus pandemic. I had a mix of Williams and Beurre Bosc pears in my fruit bowl that really needed eating so they made their way into this classic, mix-and- bake cake that we’ve been serving with either custard (my daughter’s choice) or cream (my choice). It’s one of those cakes that’s delicious served warm and, as it doesn’t freeze or microwave very well, is perfect to eat fresh from the oven or within a day or two of baking. I don’t know who to credit for this recipe as it‘s one that I tore from an old magazine many years ago and stuffed into my “some-day-I’ll-make-this” recipe folder! One day soon, I WILL get around to sorting these recipes into some kind of order- a task I always think I must do but never find the time! Now, it seems, there’s plenty of time, so I’ll pop that job onto my “Corona-Cocooning To Do List.” In the meantime, I hope this sweet little cake brings you a big serving of joy and happiness!

METHOD:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius (or 160 degrees fan-forced).

2. Grease a 23cm springform cake pan with the butter then sprinkle half the ground almonds around the base and sides and ensure they are well coated. The pan should then be placed on an oven tray lined with baking paper.

3. Use a food processor to whizz together the eggs and caster sugar. Then add in the vanilla, cinnamon, milk and flour. Pulse until you end up with a lovely creamy, thick, smooth batter.

4. Transfer the batter into a large mixing bowl and gently stir in the pears. Once you’ve poured the mixture into your cake pan, sprinkle the top with the remaining almond meal, demerara sugar and dot with the extra butter.

5. Bake the cake for one hour or until the top is golden brown. You can cover the cake with foil during the last part of the bake if it’s browning too quickly.

6. Once the tin is cool enough to handle, you can gently turn out the cake and serve it warm as a dessert. Or allow to cool completely and serve as an afternoon tea cake.

INGREDIENTS:

A generous tablespoon of unsalted butter, softened, to grease the cake tin.

4 pears peeled, cored and cut into thick slices (you can use any variety of pear)

1/2 cup of almond meal

3 eggs (the fresher the better!)

1 1/4 cups of caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup of full cream milk

2 cups of self raising flour ( no need to sift )

2 tablespoons of demerara sugar (for the top of the cake to incorporate a lovely butterscotch flavour while baking.)

Approx 20-30gms of unsalted butter to dot on top of the cake before baking.

Happy baking!

Styling & Photography by Michelle Hartnett. Images ©Michelle Hartnett 2020. All rights reserved.