Mint Slice Cups

Having two types of slice that work perfectly as little cups is lovely, but, I've had my eye on a third variation for some time now.  There can be no Three Amigos until then.

I wanted to do a Peppermint type of cup, and although the Peppermint slice that I do is delicious, its not really one that lends itself well to a cup variation.  Also, its more of a bastardised Hedgehog Slice topped with Peppermint Cream frosting, which will work in the cups in so far as holds the shape, but, isn't really what I was after.  What I wanted was something that would taste pretty close to a Mint Slice biscuit, but have the three separate and defined layers for a visual effect.  And so the recipe hunt was on.

After a little trial and error, I've come up with the recipe below.  Its a take on several Choc Mint Slice recipes that I liked bits of, but not the whole offering, and with that my latest creation was born.

Mint Slice Cups

Makes approximately 36 mini cups

Ingredients 
Base
60g Butter, melted
1/2 Cup Plain Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/3 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Coconut

Filling
150g Fondant (ready to roll, I used Orchard for this experiment)
75g Copha
2 & 1/4 Cups Icing Mixture
2 teaspoons Peppermint Essence
3 Tablespoons Milk

Topping
300g Chocolate (milk or dark, I prefer milk and used that this time but Mint Slice biscuits are darker of course!)

Place your dry base ingredients in a bowl, mixing together well by hand until thoroughly combined.

Add the melted butter, and mix in well

Once all the melted butter has been worked through the dry ingredients, begin to fill your mini silicone moulds, roughly a teaspoon at a time with the mixture

Press down with the back of a metal spoon before using your fingers to finish padding out the base.  This mixture seems rather crumbly to work with, but don't fret, it bakes together brilliantly!  Just press it in as best you can, unlike a shortbread base, it isn't terribly forgiving when working with your fingertips.  Aim for a more 'feather' touch if you're struggling, I noticed the more heavy handed I was, the more likely the mixture was to give me grief.

Bake at 180 degrees for around 10-12 minutes, or until slightly risen, and darker in colour.

While the bases are baking, you can whip up the Peppermint centre.  First, place the fondant and copha in microwave or heatproof bowls.  Melt well, the fondant on reduced power (50%) for about 40 seconds or so, stopping halfway and stirring, the copha, depending on how hard it is, will take longer.  You want the Copha pretty much melted, no large lumps at all.

Add the melted Copha and softened fondant to your mixer, along with the peppermint essence, milk and 2 cups of the Icing mixture.  

Whisk until all ingredients are completely combined, slowly adding the last 1/4 cup of Icing Mixture as you go.  The mixture should be thick and slow running when at the right consistency.

Place roughly 1/3 of the mixture into a heatproof bowl and zap at about half power in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.  This will allow the mixture to be runny enough to work with, as you will find this stiffens rather quickly the longer it sits out.  The microwave is definitely your friend with this recipe!!

Take a small teaspoonful of the warmed mixture, and spoon into your mini cases.

As you press the mixture into the case, you'll find the level actually rises, so don't overfill from the outset.  You'd rather put in not enough, than too much with this one.  Its a PITA to take back out, very easy to add a little extra.

I also used a plastic spoon to level the peppermint mixture out as the metal spoons tended to stick and try to lift.  Feather touch again as opposed to too heavy handed, a gentle smoothing motion with the spoon is all you need to work it to the edge of the cases.

Once you have all your peppermint mixture into your cases, melt your chosen chocolate.  I recommend no more than 100g at a time, as again you don't want the chocolate to harden too much, so only melt as much as you can work with in about 3-4 minutes, otherwise, as it stiffens, you'll get poorer and more uneven results with the level of your chocolate.

You do not have to wait for the Peppermint to cool before adding the melted chocolate, its simply one step after another, no waiting for cooling, except for this end part.  

Pop them in the fridge for at least an hour to set completely, then peel and serve...

Cherry Ripe Cups

I have two packets of red Glace Cherries in the pantry, earmarked for a higher purpose in this life.  I like Cherry Ripes, but my line in the sand recipe wise for Slices is crossed if I have to purchase bars of confectionery to chop up and add to the mix.  I'll do it for chocolate balls, I'll do it for a topping on my cupcakes, but it isn't an ingredient that makes up a slice.  Well, not a slice I can afford to cook on a regular basis anyway.  Enter, the Cherry Ripe Slice.  Despite the fiddly nature of doing slices in miniature, I gave it a go, and the results are none too shabby at all:-

Our recipe today

Cherry Ripe Cups
Makes approx 55 mini cups
Ingredients
Base
80g Butter, melted
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Plain Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
Filling
3 Cups Dessicated Coconut
1 tin Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
200g red Glace Cherries
1 teaspoon Red Food Colour
Topping
400g Chocolate, melted

Take your brown sugar and melted butter and combine together in a bowl.

Add the plain flour and baking powder, working the mixture until all ingredients are combined evenly

Take small amounts of the dough, and work them into the bottoms of your silicone mini muffin moulds to make the base layer.

Bake in the oven at 170 degrees for approximately 12 minutes, or until a nice light golden brown colour

Leave to cool and start on the filling.  I used my own home made condensed milk for this yet again, so left the whisk attachment on after making it, then added the coconut and lightly beaten egg and mixed it gently until just combined.

Chop the Glace Cherries, or you can be lazy like me and use a Food Processor

Considering how bad I am using knives, this is probably the smartest thing I've done all day!

Add your cherries to the mixture, the red food colouring and mix, mix, mix with a large spoon until you have a consistent, even colour right through.

Next, teaspoon full at a time, fill each cup and level off as best you can.  This is a pretty sticky mixture to work with, and, clean dry hands or a plastic spoon have been the best utensils for this part of the job in my attempts thus far.  You don't want to fill the cups too much, just slightly over 3/4 full is about where I try to aim for.

Pop these back in the oven for a further 12 minutes, or until slightly browning at the outermost edges.  Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes.

Melt the chocolate, 50g-100g at a time (I opted for the microwave for melting this time and used a nice belgian milk chocolate block I picked up on special) and spoon onto the top of the cases.  I find a teaspoon full is roughly enough, give or take, so start out with this amount on each cup.

Spread completely to the edges, filling in any gaps, and gently drop a few times onto the tray to settle the chocolate evenly on the top.

Refrigerate for at least an hour or more before peeling from the cups and enjoying immensely!

I am hoping my blog updating will be a less painful procedure in the future.  Tonight, I just realised I am uploading massive sized files straight from the camera, ensuring every blog entry with photos takes upwards of 2 hours to complete.  From here on in, I can assure you I will convert the files to JPEG before uploading in future!!  Seriously, some were 3MB each - eeek!

Mini Caramel Slice Cups

My weekend was very busy with the Morning Tea for the helpers at the school Working Bee on Saturday

I got to 7 trays then realised I'd totally forgotten to cut the Hedgehog Slice

So madly cut it and set it out and got it there on time.

Then, it was time to turn my attention to getting everything ready for a much smaller cupcake Morning Tea for the staff at my girlfriends work.

So, as a result there was no time to experiment in the kitchen until today.  But I was getting sick of cupcakes and wanted to do something fun.  I'd also been promising a few friends I would take photos of my super tiny caramel slice cups while I made them, so, I now had a plan for Monday...small and cute.

Small stuff is cute.  Teeny tiny stuff is cuter though.  I mean, look at those dogs you could fit in the palm of your hand.  Its probably inhumane to breed them as they are probably genetically inferior and prone to horrible complications, but they are just so cute you wish you could keep one in your handbag, even if its hips are cracking every time you pick it up *sigh*.  I love small stuff though, I love people of small stature (Primordial Dwarfism documentaries are my ultra favourite) and although its twice the work for half the size of the treat in this recipe, they are so cute they are perfect.

I got the idea after making the most delicious Caramel Slice in my 26cm Springform Square.  It was perfect, every layer looked wonderfully gelled to the next, and it looked uniform.  Then, I cut the bastard.  Its so damn fiddly because if you don't have the right weight of the knife, the slice at a certain temperature and use the right amount of pressure, you get cracks in your chocolate, and 'mushing' of the layers.  Then, I remembered these little silicone mini muffin cup things I'd picked up at a cheap shop.

 

I think they are for making little chocolates, but,  I picked them up thinking 'I'll use them one day for something' and, a little while ago that day finally arrived.  I was going to make a Caramel Slice fit for a Primordial Dwarf.

A note about the silicone cups, most cheap shops have them in their baking sections, usually around the $2.50 - $3 mark for a  6-12 pack, don't buy them at Coles or Baking supply shops, they charge like wounded bulls for them.  The good thing is, they are a re-usable, once off investment, not like patty liners, and you don't even need to grease these, so, more penny pinching right there!

The Recipe

Caramel Slice Mini Cups - makes 24
Ingredient Cost - $3.20 (approx)

Ingredients
Shortbread Base
55g Butter
85g Plain Flour
25g Caster Sugar
Caramel Filling
90g Butter
60g White Sugar
1 & 1/2 Tablespoons Golden Syrup
1/2 tin Sweetened Condensed Milk
200g Chocolate - Final layer

If you don't have any Sweetened Condensed Milk handy, you can  use this recipe for homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk instead, quantity is equivalent to 1 tin you buy in the store.

Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Cup Milk Powder
2/3 Cup White Sugar
3 Tablespoons Butter
1/3 Cup Boiling Water

Using an electric mixer, blend all ingredients together until nice and smooth.  Mixture will thicken on standing.

Back to the Caramel Slice Cups.

First, we'll make the shortbread base.  Place the softened butter (room temperature is fine), sugar and flour together in a food processor and pulse.

Until you end up with a nice soft dough like mixture

Next, place your mini cups on a baking tray, leaving a few centimetres between each (they don't spread, just give yourself space, it can get fiddly).


Take a small amount of the shortbread mixture and begin to press it into the bottom of the cup.


Use one hand to hold the sides, working in a downward fashion with your fingertip, moulding to the shape of the cup


If you look on an angle at your cup (making sure you have a light on somewhere in the room of course) you will see a small layer has been formed.  Once you have a level of shortbread base you are happy with, move on to the next cup and repeat.

Bake in a preheated oven set to around 150 for fan forced and 170 for electric for around 15 minutes.

They will be browned just slightly when they are done and feel slightly firm to the touch.  Set aside to cool on the bench.

Interruption time - a knock on the door and a parcel to sign for - YIPPEE!!

Which meant old faithful (i.e Starwipe and Homer) might finally get a rest.

Not retiring, just getting a rest, while I play with my newest toys

A Wilton 56 nozzle set, plus some new featherweight piping bags to play around with. And some fondant letter cutters, so I can attempt some 'message' cup cakes.

Worst time ever for an interruption, but I deadset nearly clawed the poor postie for this parcel.  I thought it would be here Friday, so I had an unbearable weekend of waiting until Monday, when I could finally get my hands on it.  But, no opening anything and experimenting.  I had to show restraint and not get carried away so at this point I made myself return to cooking.


Next, the Caramel (but my mind is still on what I'm going to play with first out of my parcel).

In a medium sized saucepan over low heat, combine the golden syrup, sugar, butter and Sweetened Condensed Milk.

Once the butter is melted and the sugar has dissolved,

Turn the heat up a little.  Please make sure you continually stir this mixture, don't let it sit, and when you are ready to make the Caramel part of these, make sure you have at least 15 minutes uninterrupted to do it.  Its not hard, you just can't stop once you start, lol.

Ok, so we've turned up the heat

And we want to bring it to a gentle boil, still stirring of course.

Start the clock.  We want to keep it boiling on the stove like this for around 6 minutes if you're cookin' with Gas, or, 8 if you've got a cruddy temperamental electric one that takes a while to kick up the gears.  In any case, the mixture will darken, thicken, and generally smell really goooood.

Turn off the heat, keep stirring for a few moments and then grab two teaspoons and start pouring carefully into your little cups.

One teaspoon is about the amount you need, but, go gently but don't work too slowly.  The cooler this mixture gets, the harder it will become and the tougher you'll find it to work with.

Next melt your chocolate, about 50-100g at a time.

I melt mine in the microwave on reduced power, I just used trusty Home Brand Milk Chocolate Melts as they are actually really nice tasting chocolate and work pretty well in this recipe.


Anyway, using a teaspoon, spread a small amount of chocolate around on the top of each cup.  You can opt for holding the cups, or, doing them on the tray.   

Personal preference is for the latter, but go for whatever works best for you.  I find using a technique where I swirl the teaspoon around, ensuring the chocolate is spread right to the edges on each cup, gives me the best results.

A side view below where you can almost see the completed 'layers'

Pop them in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours.  You want them to really harden up before attempting to remove them.  Peel them out cold, straight from the fridge, otherwise the caramel will begin to stick to the silicone, ruining your efforts.

To remove them from the silicone liners, simply start with an edge, and pull away.

Then place to one side and keep going

I'm happy enough with these, but, next time I am going to melt the chocolate a little longer.  I want it runnier than I had it, as the excessive amount of teaspoon activity has caused those ordinary looking divets in quite a few.  My last batch were much, much more uniform looking on the top, as you can see from this photo

And the only thing different this time is that I rushed the chocolate melting stage.  Also, I melted in big batches.  Not a good idea as the chocolate will cool quicker than you can use it all and I'm the stubborn type who refuses to stop, melt the chocolate some more and then keep going, no, no, I'll continue to use the chocolate well past the point I know I should, and then kick myself when the big 'reveal' comes.

They'll all still get eaten though.  So not a problem there, they are very tasty, perfect for a fancy treat with a coffee.  They don't need to be kept in the fridge, but, store them there until the day you want to use them, they'll keep for weeks that way!!