Work Catering #37: First of 2014! A raspberry theme~

YAY! My work catering series is back!! One of the things that I have been most looking forward to at work =p (maybe im in the wrong job.. hmm..)

tasty cookies~

My bakes this week had a raspberry theme! Not sure why but I was just in the mood of using raspberries ^_^" First up is a Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies.. combining two of my favourite sweets: Cheesecake and Brownies! I found this recipe on this new blog I have been following: Sally's Baking Addiction. You guys should really check it out!!! It's such a wonderful and colourful blog and the photos just make you drroooolllll!!! and also make you want to bake (like I did XD).

Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients

Fudge Brownies
1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter
225g dark chocolate melts
1 cup caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 tsp salt

Raspberry Cheesecake Layer
250g cream cheese, softened at room temp
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup raspberry jam
1/4 cup raspberries for topping

1. Preheat oven to 180oC. Grease and line baking pan (20x30cm).
2. To make the brownies, place the butter and chocolate in medium saucepan on medium heat and stir constantly till both are melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool (~10-15 minutes should be fine).
3. Stir in sugar and mix until combined. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated before adding next egg. Mix in vanilla. Gently fold in flour and salt. Pour batter in prepared pan.
4. To make the cheesecake layer, beat together the cream cheese and sugar with electric beater until smooth. Add in egg yolk and beat until combined. Beat in raspberry jam.
5. Dollop spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture on top of brownie batter. Glide a knife through the layers to create a swirl pattern. Sprinkle and press a few raspberries on the top.
6. Bake for ~30 minutes or until skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cover the brownies after 20 minutes of baking to stop the top from over browning. Allow brownies to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Loving the layers

bright pop of rapsberries ^^

The next recipe I tried also involves raspberry jam!! They are essentially thumbprint/jam drop cookies but made up of shortbread. I have previously made jam drop cookies but wasn't too happy with the result. However this shortbread recipe was really good as the cookies did not spread so much so the jam stayed in the holes xP and it's EGG FREE!

Raspberry Shortbread Cookies
Recipe adapted from Melding Magic

Ingredients
225g butter, softened
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup raspberry jam

Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
3 - 4 tsp warm water
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Cream butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer.
2. Add in flour and beat on low speed and well combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 180oC and line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Shape teaspoonsful of dough into balls. Place 1 inch apart onto tray. Using your thumb or end of wooden spoon handle, make an indent in the centre of each cook. Fill with jam.

Filling holes with jam

4. Bake for 14 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Allow to cool.

Cooked cookies :D

Allowing them to cool....

5. Make glaze by mixing sugar, water and vanilla in small bowl. Drizzle over cookies.

Ready to eat :D

Close up of the drizzle! looks like white chocolate but it's not XD

Well stay tuned for more work catering bakes and other random recipes~~^_^ and try these out! they're really simple!!!!

Work catering #18: 2nd attempt at Caramel Slice

Close up of caramel slice

When you fail at a recipe, the easiest thing you can do is just ignore it and find something else you are good at baking XD!! But I really wanted to try out making Caramel Slice again. Previously, I used the wrong type of coconut for the base so I wasn't too happy with it. That was my colleague's secret recipe that I was unable to share, however I found this recipe for "The Best Ever Caramel Slice" on Baker's corner. Not too sure about the "best ever" part but it was pretty yummy ^^

Previously caramel slice, not looking too great

New Caramel slice looking much better ^^ even layers of base and caramel!

The Best Ever Caramel Slice
Recipe adapted from Baker's corner

Ingredients
1 cup (150g) plain flour
1/2 cup (110g) brown sugar
1/2 cup (40g) dessicated coconut
125g butter, melted
100g butter, extra
2 x 395g cans condensed milk
1/3 cup (80ml) golden syrup
200g dark chocolate, melted
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 180oC/160oC fan forced. Grease and line slice tin (20x30cm) with baking paper.
2. Combine flour, sugar and coconut in bowl. Add melted butter and mix well. Press mixture firmly into prepared tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. 
3. Meanwhile, place extra butter, condensed milk and syrup in medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until smooth. Pour over base and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. 
4. Combine dark chocolate and oil in bowl and stir until smooth. Pour evenly over slice. Allow to set before slicing and serving.

All gone in a flash~~

Also on my to-bake-list has been these jam drop cookies. Basically a cookie with a little drop of jam in the middle. I used strawberry and apricot jam but the list is endless :) Really simple to make, just make sure those hole you indent is a bit deeper so the jam doesn't run out.

Jam drop cookies
Recipe adapted from taste.com.au

Ingredients

125g butter, softened

1/2 cup (100g) caster sugar

1 egg

1 cup (150g) self-raising flour

1/4 cup (35g) custard powder

1/4 cup (90g) raspberry or apricot jam

1. Preheat oven to 180oC. Line two baking trays with baking paper. 

2. Beat butter and sugar in bowl with electric mixture until pale and creamy. Add egg and beat until just combined. Add flour and custard powder and stir with wooden spoon until just combined.

3. Using lightly floured hands, roll 1 1/2 teaspoons of mixture into small balls. Place on baking trays allowing room for spreading. 

4. Use lightly floured finger or end of wooden spoon to make an indentation in centre of each ball. Spoon 1/2 tsp of jam into the centre of each biscuit. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool on trays before serving.

Cookies were a little bit too brown! haha

Close up of cookies.