Yule log

I did not made a yule log last year because I was quite busy. This year I made it task to make one. I was also very keen on making one this year to celebrate Christmas. I made this one in 2013 with chocolate cream as filling and couverture. This year I went for chocolate cream filling and covered the roll in chocolate ganache. I also topped it with some flaked chocolate sprinkles, and marzipan mushrooms and to finish off, dusted with some icing sugar. I was pretty excited at how the buche looked.

One shot photo of the inside

Sushi rolls for camping

I woke up early in the morning on the 24th of December to get 16 sushi rolls ready. It was my first time cooking so much rice (1.5 kg) in my whole life. I was very thrilled as everything came together nicely. I got all prep done and  the rolls were ready within 3 hours. I had to do some calculations on how much rice I need to fill 16 rolls (ratio of uncooked versus cooked rice). Basically, 1 cup of uncooked rice  makes 3 rolls. so all I had to do was used my basic maths and do the multiplication. I kept the fillings simple- tuna mayo, carrot, cucumber and sesame seeds.

Recipe for the rice can be found from an earlier post here.

Shortbread cookies

I also baked a box full of Christmas-shaped shortbread cookies to bring to the camp. I made plain vanilla and chocolate ones. I used the recipe from the Western Star butter here. To make the chocolate shortbread, I added 2 tablespoons of cacao powder to half of the dough. The biscuits were buttery, crumbly and had a nice bite to them.

Spot the word in the centre

Raspberry macaron with raspberry white choc ganache (Recipe)

After first time success with the Italian meringue method, I have been very keen on trying again with a different flavour. Camping presented a great opportunity to making them again. This time I made the shells pink and filled them with a white chocolate raspberry ganache. The shells were not as shiny as the previous time, which I think is mostly due to me letting them dry for too long before baking them (or the colouring might have contributed too). The taste and texture were there, so I was still very happy of the result.

Recipe for the ganache 

Ingredients:
100 ml thickened cream
50 g raspberries (I used frozen ones)
100 g white chocolate

Method:
1. Squeeze out all the juices from the raspberries using a sieve.
2. Over a saucepan, heat cream. Stir half of the chocolate.
3. Remove from heat and mix in the rest of the chocolate and stir until all combined and chocolate is melted.
4. Add the raspberry juice.
5. Mix well and let cool in the fridge to firm up.

Note:
If ganache is a bit loose, whip some cream until soft peak and add the above mixture.

Choux puff (custard puff)

I am finally able to continue on my camping food posts. First up is choux I made filled with creme patissiere. I left it plain on the top, but I think they were still very yummy.

Recipe can be find from an earlier post here.

Camping food

This is a recap of what we had during our Christmas camping down south. The food was kept simple and balanced (where possible).

Lemon chicken, beef steak, sausage, carrot puree, and salad

Pork/ salami sandwich with sliced veggues

Moonfan (rice with mushroom, chicken, peas and carrots) served with tomato salsa

Fish and chips from Cod Rocks in Busselton

Served with bread and bean salad

Sushi I prepped

Desserts I prepped:

Shortbread biscuits

Raspberry macarons

Yule log

Choux a la creme