Cherry Pie Shortbread Bites

When it rains, it pours. I hate to be a grump but I seem to be a bad luck magnet at the moment. I mentioned a while back that I was having a bad week, but it seems to have extended to a bad month, for every aspect of my life. I'm currently battling some kind of mystery virus and it's kept me bed-bound for the last couple of days. Also this post might not make a lot of sense since I'm on a lot of cold and flu medication. The one thing that I always feel like doing when I'm not well is to get into the kitchen and bake. It might sound weird to some people, but nothing cheers me up like freshly baked goods and since no one else in my house bakes I have to do it for myself. So last night when I was feeling like I was on the mend (false alarm), I dragged myself out of bed to make these cherry pie shortbread bites.

In my opinion it's not Christmas without shortbread, and lots of it. I know it might seem strange that I've posted two pie filling recipes in the space of one week, but it's a little more than a coincidence. I came across this fruit mince bites recipe on Taste while brainstorming ideas for Christmas shortbread but I was determined to put my fruit mince into poptarts. I did love the idea of the little shortbread cups filled with something yummy so I adapted the shortbread bites recipe to include this amazing cherry pie filling. Originally I was considering an apple pie filling similar to my apple pie tiramisu but fresh sweet cherries are synonymous with Christmas meals in Australia (one of the many benefits of celebrating it in the middle of summer), so I decided that cherry pie would be a much better option. I was right. These cherry pie shortbread bites are the perfect holiday treat and dangerously addictive.

Of course I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have tons of fresh cherries available to them at Christmas time, but frozen cherries will work just as well in this recipe as fresh ones. Plus they have the added bonus of being pre-pitted, which I realised after about 10 minutes into pitting my annoying fresh cherries. Anyway, the pie filling is lusciously thick and lightly flavoured with spices and vanilla bean. It is so so so good. It's the perfect filling for these buttery, melt in your mouth shortbread cups. While my mini poptarts may have suffered a bit from the lack of filling to pastry issue, these babies have no such problem. They are perfect. Perfect I tell you! I swear it's not just the cold and flu drugs talking.

As with all shortbread, make sure you use some really good quality butter. I always prefer using salted butter for my shortbread, it does something magical to it. These shortbread bites would be perfect for any Christmas party or just as a Christmas snack. It would be great any other time of the year, and if you're not a fan of cherry pie (in which case we probably can't be friends), you can substitute the cherries with any kind of berries or other fruit. And now I am going to lie in bed eating many of these cherry pie bites and watching copious amounts of Gilmore Girls. P.S. how cute is my vintage Quality Streets tin? I love eating tons of Quality Streets during the holiday season.

Cherry Pie Shortbread Bites
(Adapted from this recipe from Taste.com.au, makes 24 biscuits)
For the cherry filling:
300g cherries (fresh or frozen), pitted and diced
1/8 tsp mixed spice
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) + 2 tsp cold water

For the shortbread:
250g salted butter, softened
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 cups plain flour, sifted
1/3 cup rice flour, sifted
1 tsp lemon rind

Prepare the cherry filling first; place chopped cherries, mixed spice, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla in a medium saucepan and place on medium heat. Stir over heat until sugar dissolves. Mix cornflour and water together in a separate small bowl then add to the saucepan and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens, about 3-4 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease two 12-hole, 1 1/2-tablespoon capacity mini muffin pans. Place butter, sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high until light and fluffy. Mix sifted flours together in a separate bowl and then add flours and lemon rind to the mixing bowl. Mix together, then turn mixture onto a floured surface. Lightly knead until dough comes together. Press 1 level tablespoon of mixture into 1 hole of prepared pan. Using your finger, make a hole in the centre of the mixture and fill each with about 1 heaped tsp of filling. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling. Bake for 12-15 minutes until shortbread is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes and then gently remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Lightly dust tops with icing sugar and serve. Can be stored in an airtight container for several days.

Fruit Mince Pie Pops

This year I've been completely addicted to fruit mince pies. I have had one pie pretty much every day since the start of December and I don't plan on stopping until they disappear from the shelves. It's a strange addiction, considering that I only started liking them as an adult; as a child I was freaked out by the whole 'mince' part until I realised that most fruit mince these days doesn't actually include meat like it used to. Now I can't get enough of them and I was determined to try and make my own fruit mince this year.

I'm not sure how familiar overseas readers are with fruit mince pies, but if you're not then this might be a good way of introducing yourself to them. I did a fun adaptation of them into cute mini Christmas tree-shaped poptarts on sticks. I've been wanting to make mini poptarts on sticks ever since seeing these cuties on the family kitchen. So incredibly cute. So I made them Christmas themed by being tree-shaped and filled with my own homemade fruit mince mixture. I based the poptart pastry recipe on the homemade apple pie poptarts I made recently, it's such an easy to make and easy to handle pastry recipe. The result? These cute little pastries on popsicle sticks made of thin, buttery pastry and filled with beautifully spiced dried fruits. The pastry was a tad fiddly to seal up with all the points on the christmas tree shapes, so I wasn't able to fill them up as much as I would have liked. Next time I'm going to have to get a bigger cookie cutter so I can fill them up with lots of fruit mince.

Even though I've never made fruit mince before, it was relatively simple. I basically just chopped everything up and mixed it together in a bowl and let it absorb all the delicious spices and booze for a couple of days. I had a little fun adding some of my favourite dried fruits, with some glace ginger and dried sour cherries (they both really feel Christmassy to me). The recipe is loosely based on Lisa's fruit mince, which I remembered enjoying at a Christmas picnic. I was really happy with how my fruit mince turned out, it's so lovely, aromatic and rich with flavour that I know I'll never be able to use pre-made fruit mince again (though I've only used it once when I feeling extremely lazy). I decided to skip any glaze on the top of the poptarts, going with the usual cinnamon sugar sprinkle, but they would look really cute with a simple icing glaze too. These really would make the perfect little nibbly treat at a Christmas party or picnic. And if you're not a fruit mince fan, you could try filling them with my apple pie filling, or maybe some candy cane chocolate sauce?

Fruit Mince Pie Pops
(adapted from my apple pie pop tart recipe, makes approx 30 mini pie pops)
For the fruit mince:
(You can use any fruit mince you prefer, mine is adapted from spicyicecream's, you will end up with lots leftover!)
130g dark brown sugar
150g sultanas
100g currants
25g dried dates, diced
25g dried figs, diced
25g prunes, diced
50g glaced mixed peel
1 Granny Smith apple (or any other baking apple), finely grated
Optional: 30g glace ginger finely chopped, 30g dried sour cherries, finely chopped (or any other dried fruit you prefer)
50ml port, brandy or muscat (I used port)
50g unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp mixed spice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground or freshly grated nutmeg

For the pastry:
2 cups plain flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
225g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 large egg
2 tbsp milk
1 large egg, for brushing the dough
2 tbsp white sugar + 1/4 tsp cinnamon to sprinkle
Popsicle sticks

Prepare the fruit mince in advance; combine all the fruit mince ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Place in a sterilised container/jar and refrigerate for at 24 hours, the longer the better.

For the pastry, in the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar and salt. Add the cold butter and pulse until only pea sized lumps remain in your mixture. In a small bowl, beat the egg with the milk. Add the mixture all at once to the dry ingredients and pulse until moisture is introduced to all of the flour mixture. Lightly dust a clean surface with flour and knead the dough until it starts to hold together. Divide the dough in two, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Remove one piece of dough from the refrigerator. On a well floured surface, roll the dough out to 3mm thick (it can sometimes be easier to roll between two sheets of baking paper). Use a Christmas tree shaped cookie cutter, or using a knife and a stencil, cut out Christmas tree shapes. Make sure they are not too small or you won't be able to put much filling in them. Alternatively you can cut out small rectangles, and adjust the size to your preference. Place half of the cutouts evenly spaced on three baking paper lined trays, leaving enough space for the popsicle sticks. Brush with beaten egg and then place a popsicle stick into the middle of each one. Place about 1 tsp of fruit mince filling in the middle of each and then gently press a second pieces of pastry cutout over the top and carefully press down on the edges with your fingertips or a fork. Make sure not to leave any big gaps or it will leak. Use the tines of the fork to create vent holes in each tart. Brush with more beaten egg and then sprinkle a pinch of the sugar/cinnamon mixture on the top. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Let the tarts rest in the fridge while the oven preheats. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top. Cool completely on a wire rack and store in an airtight container. Best eaten fresh and still warm but should last a couple days in an airtight container, and warmed slightly before eating.

Homemade Apple Pie Pop Tarts

It's been ridiculously cold recently. I kind of love it. People tend to look at me funny when I say that I love winter, but as I've mentioned before on this blog I get super cranky in the heat and humidity of summer. I like how the air smells on those crazy cold nights. This kind of cold weather makes me crave apple pie.

There are just some desserts that I will only eat in the middle of winter. Piping hot apple pies full of delicious chunks of juicy apple goodness along with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream is one of them. It has to be flavoured with plenty of spices and wrapped up in a very short, buttery pastry.

When Lisa made us these amazing cherry pop tarts with vanilla bean glaze, I immediately put them on my must-try list of recipes and every now and then I would wistfully dream about the thin flaky pastry and that amazing glaze. This weekend I finally found the time to try out the recipe and satisfy my apple pie cravings by making these Apple Pie Pop Tarts with a Cinnamon Glaze.

I just had one for breakfast today and they are amazing. The pastry recipe is perfection, the dough is super easy to work with and handle, plus it stayed flaky and short even though I had to re-roll the scraps several times. I loved how thin I could roll the pastry so that the pop tarts were wonderfully delicate to bite into.

I went through a phase where I was having strawberry pop tarts every morning for breakfast. If it wasn't pop tarts, it was cocoa pops. It seems that I used to like starting the day off with an insane amount of sugar (I'm more of a bacon and egg type of girl these days). Pop tarts aren't as readily available in Australia, so it's great to have a recipe for a homemade version. Plus as Lisa mentioned, it's all made with real butter and no corn syrup. And it's wayyyy tastier.

The apple pie filling is quite simple. I freaked out a bit when I cooked up the apples as they released so much juice, so I added a bit of gelatin powder to the mixture but I don't think it really needed it. The mixture seems to dry out quite well in the oven thanks to the flour that is added. I tried not to add too much sugar to the filling so it is quite tangy, since the pop tart is covered with that beautiful cinnamon glaze. The apples are mixed up with a bit of cinnamon and real vanilla bean, and when you get a mouthful of the mixture, with that light pastry, the spiced glaze and a little crunch from the sugar crystal you will cry. Then you can come thank me :)

The glaze is a bit tricky to get right. If it's too runny it won't hold it's shape on the top of the mixture and will just go everywhere. I found the best way to get it right was to keep whisking in small amounts of icing sugar and then spooning it on to a tart to see how long it would take to settle, using the spoon to scoop up the stray drips. It's definitely worth investing the time to get the glaze just right, so that it has that thin layer that almost shatters as you bite into it. Just heavenly.

Apple Pie Pop Tarts with Cinnamon Glaze
(makes 8, adapted from spicy icecream's recipe)
3-4 apples, peeled and finely chopped (about 3 cups worth), I used a mixture of Granny Smith and Royal Gala but you can use any good baking apples
Juice from half a lemon
1 vanilla bean pod
1 tbsp (14g) butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp glucose syrup (optional, can be replaced with another tbsp of brown sugar)
1 tbsp flour

For the pastry:
2 cups plain flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
225g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 large egg
2 tbsp milk
1 large egg, for brushing the dough

For the glaze:
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Optional: granulated or raw sugar crystals

Prepare the filling first. Place butter in a medium saucepan on medium-low heat until it goes golden brown, then add chopped apple, lemon juice, brown sugar, glucose and vanilla bean (split and seeds scraped) and return to the heat. Stir regularly until apples are slightly more tender and liquid has reduced slightly, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool completely. Add flour and stir to combine, then chill while preparing the pastry.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar and salt. Add the cold butter and pulse until only pea sized lumps remain in your mixture. In a small bowl, beat the egg with the milk. Add the mixture all at once to the dry ingredients and pulse until moisture is introduced to all of the flour mixture. Lightly dust a clean surface with flour and knead the dough until it starts to hold together. Divide the dough in two, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Remove one piece of dough from the refrigerator. On a well floured surface, roll the dough out to 3mm thick. Trim the dough into rectangles 14 x 8cm (this is why my stainless steel ruler is one of my most used kitchen utensils). Place the dough rectangles onto 2 baking trays lined with baking paper and refrigerate while you prepare the second piece of dough in the same way. Brush one set of 8 squares with a beaten egg. This will act as the glue for the top layer of dough. Spoon 1 1/2-2 tbsp of apple filling into the center of each brushed dough square (you may want to drain some of the excess liquid from the filling first). Top with a second piece of dough and use a floured fork to crimp the sides closed. Use the tines of the fork to create vent holes in each tart.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Let the tarts rest in the fridge while the oven preheats. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top. While the tarts bake, whisk together the icing sugar, cinnamon and milk for the glaze and set aside. Let baked tarts rest on a cooling rack to cool completely before glazing. If glaze is too runny, gradually sift more icing sugar into the mixture until it reaches the correct viscosity. Sprinkle a small amount of sugar crystals over each tart. When glaze has set, serve immediately or store in an airtight container. Best served within 2 days, warmed up for 20-30 seconds in the microwave.

Maple Custard Pie & Candied Bacon

I know. I didn't think I'd ever go there but I did. I've always been very apprehensive about the whole bacon in desserts thing. But that was before I made candied bacon. And this Maple Egg Custard Pie. Each thing on its own is perfectly respectable, and quite delicious. But put them together and omgholyshizzwhatisthisamazingness?! I didn't expect the addition of the candied bacon to make such a difference to this pie, but I was slightly underwhelmed after trying a slice of the pie on its own and then completely amazed by the effect of the crunchy, salty and caramelised bits of bacon. It made all the difference.

What is candied bacon exactly? It's very simple; thin strips of streaky bacon, slathered in a layer of brown sugar or maple syrup and baked to a crisp. It reminds me of Bak Kwa, the thin Malaysian Grilled Honey Pork that I love so much. The sugar gives the bacon this amazing toffee sheen and mellows the saltiness of the bacon, making it perfect for adding to very sweet desserts. Just like this pie. I adapted an American-style Egg Custard Pie (sort of like a huge custard tart for Australians), switching the sugar in the pie for some pure maple syrup. This gave the filling a jolt of extra flavour and a lovely golden colour. I've always been a big fan of the maple syrup and bacon combination. Some people might think it's pretty disgusting but I'm definitely in a sweet/salty combination phase. I'd say this recipe is about on par with the Popcorn Fudge for weirdness. But I think I like this one better because it's not quite as sweet, and I love bacon so friggin' much. Bacon is the thing I turn to when I'm feeling really, really rotten. For example, when I stabbed a hole all the way through my finger (don't worry I didn't post a photo of it) the first thing I did after getting stitched and drugged up was get myself a BLT. It has magical restorative powers you see.

I didn't use any ordinary pie crust for this recipe, I finally tried out an adaptation of the rolled oat crust that Momofuku uses for its infamous crack pie. It's so buttery and addictive, with a lovely crisp texture from the oat cookies that you bake and then crush into the crust mixture. It might seem like a lot of extra effort to make this two step crust, but it is worth the extra time investment.

I love the fact that this dessert is filled with some of my favourite breakfast ingredients - bacon, eggs and oats. My only gripe was that because I used a biscuit-based crust, the custard made the base a bit soggy after it was in the fridge overnight. So I would suggest serving it on the same day you bake it, because it was so beautiful when it was fresh out of the oven. Or you can use whatever crust you want! But please don't forget about adding the bacon, it's just not the same without it. I served mine up as thin strips so people could take as much as they wanted, but you could chop it up into smaller pieces and then sprinkle it over the top.

Maple Custard Pie & Candied Bacon
(Makes one 25cm pie, crust adapted from Linda's pecan pie crust based on Momofuku's crack pie, filling adapted from this recipe)
For the oat cookies:
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (85g) plain flour
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (115g) softened butter
1/3 cup (71 g) brown sugar
3 tablespoons (35g) sugar
1 egg
Scant 1 cup (100g) rolled oats

For the pie crust:
Crushed oat cookies from ingredients above plus
1/2 cup (115g) butter, softened
1 1/2 tablespoons (21g) brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (140g) plain flour

For the custard filling:
3 large eggs, whisked
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg white
2 1/2 cups scalded milk
a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

For the candied bacon:
175g thinly sliced streaky bacon (or the fattiest bacon you can find =D)
1/3 cup (71 g) brown sugar
(but don't do it until you serve it or the bacon will go soggy)

Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and a baking sheets with baking paper. Prepare the oat cookie crust; sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy. With the mixer on medium, add the egg and beat until combined. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture until combined. Stir in oats and spread mixture as flat and even as you can on the baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and set, about 20 mins, then cool on a wire rack until cool to the touch.

Break up cookie layer into smaller pieces and place in a food processor with butter, sugar and salt and pulse until they combine evenly. Add flour and pulse until just combined. Press mixture into a 25cm diameter pie dish that has been well-greased, preferably with a removable base (lined with baking paper if is not removable). You should have enough for a nice thick crust, perhaps with a bit leftover. This crust crumbles quite easily so try not to make it too thin.

Preheat oven to 205°C (400°F) and prepare the pie filling. In a large mixing bowl, mix together eggs, vanilla, maple syrup, nutmeg and salt. Prepare the scalded milk in a medium saucepan and then gradually add to the egg mixture, using a whisk to combine. Brush bottom and sides of the prepared pie crust with the extra egg white to help prevent a soggy crust. Pour custard mixture into crust. Carefully place in oven and bake until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Prepare the bacon; preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) line a baking sheet with baking paper and pat your bacon strips dry with paper towels. Lay bacon strips in a single flat layer on sheet and then sprinkle brown sugar or equal amount of maple syrup over the top of the bacon. Bake until crisp, around 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack, use paper towels to dab off any excess bacon grease. Can be stored in an airtight container overnight. Pie is best served on the same day it is baked but can be refrigerated overnight. Do not place bacon on surface of pie until ready to serve.

Fancy Gems Mini Choux

I'M BAAACKK!!! Did'ya miss me??? Of course you did :P

After an amazing 3 weeks in KL that I spent shopping, eating and getting pampered once my brother's wedding was over, I was so ready to get back in the kitchen and start baking. So much so that on my last night in KL I actually dreamt about baking. And what did I dream about? Fancy Gem Biscuits. You may or may not have had these before, but here's a picture of them. Little biscuits topped with a sploge of brightly coloured royal icing. I have so many childhood memories of eating bags of these little sweet cookies, though inevitably you end up giving up on eating the biscuit part and just bite off the icing. I still see them sold at Cookie Man stores and I'm always tempted to buy a bag even though I know it's just like eating a bag of sugar.

Since I've never been a huge fan of the biscuit part of Fancy Gems, I decided to mix it up a little and bake some super tiny mini choux pastries instead. I know I've said I'm not a huge fan of eating choux pastry, but these little ones are the perfect replacement for the biscuits in Fancy Gems, they're light and buttery and not dry like the biscuits. And oh so cute as they puff up in the oven. So here are my Fancy Gems Mini Choux Pastries!

There's something about the brightly coloured icing rosettes that makes me happy. And you can never have too much icing, which is why I couldn't resist baking a few full-sized choux pastries to make some giant fancy gems. Wheeee!!! Check it out:

So much icing....oh yeah. So anyway, I used the most reliable choux pastry recipe I've come across so far, from the Daring Baker's Challenge way back in May for my Cupcake Croquembouche. I just piped really tiny rounds of batter and reduced the baking time and it worked perfectly. So if you wanna try your own fancy gems at home, this is a great simple recipe and you don't end up with dry, powdery biscuits that you don't want to eat. I can't stop popping these little babies in my mouth by the handful!

Fancy Gem Mini Choux Pastries (NOT a recipe for the Fancy Gem Biscuits)
(adapted from this recipe, makes approximately 100 mini choux)
88 ml water
3 tbsp (43 g) unsalted butter
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup (63 g) all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
For egg wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

For Royal Icing: (you may need to make several batches of this, I made 2)
1 egg whites
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.
Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon for 1 minute to cool slightly. Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny. As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes. It is at this point that you will add in the next egg and stir until combined.

Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted. Pipe very small circles of batter, about 1/4 tsp sized and a spaced a few centimeters apart on the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1cm x 1cm. Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top. Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt). Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 7 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 10-15 minutes more. Keep an eye on them as the bottoms may start to burn. Remove to a rack and cool. Can be stored in a airtight box overnight.

To prepare the royal icing, beat eggwhite in a clean mixing bowl until it reaches soft peaks. Add cream of tartar and then gradually sift icing sugar into egg whites. Beat until mixture is shiny and fluffy and just holds its shape. Add any desired food colouring at this point, then place in piping bags (I recommend disposable ones for this part), and pipe rosettes on the top of the mini choux pastries. Leave on a rack to set for about half an hour. Can be stored in an airtight box overnight.

Worms in the Mud Pies

That doesn't look too appetising does it? Well it's actually really yummy. It's something that's super easy and fun to make for Halloween, cos it's a little bit gross looking and it's full of sugar. And chocolate. It's another idea that I got from my guilty pleasure girly TV show. Chocolate pie with an oreo cookie crust and gummi worms. It's mud pie, with worms! Ewww..but yum!

You could do this as one big pie, or do individual serves like me because I suck at cutting neat slices of pie and it's easier to share. There's very little baking involved, just a lot of stirring to make sure you don't get lumps in the chocolate custard. The oreo crust is a little fiddly, but it doesn't need to be neat - the messier it looks, the more it looks like dirt!

The most fun part is in the decorating. I grabbed a whole bunch of snakes and sour gummi worms, don't they look all squishy and slimy coming out of the mud? And I broke up some pieces of Flake chocolate to look like logs and bits of broken wood. This is something you could get your kids to help you decorate. Feel free to go crazy with it - maybe some green jelly to look like slime?

As for how it tastes, the chocolate cream filling is silky and light, the buttermilk helps to cut through any bitterness. I actually found my mixture was quite sweet, so you could reduce the sugar by a quarter cup or so if you don't want to make people too sugar high. I love oreo pie crusts, the less you pack it together the better since the baking will set the crust well and if it's too tightly packed it will be hard to break through with a fork. If you want a more elegant, non-Halloween themed dessert, just take out the gummi worms and it's deliciously impressive.

Worms in the Mud Pie
(makes one large pie or can be split into 4-6 individual serves, adapted from this chocolate cream pie recipe)
1 1/2 cups Oreo Cookie Crumbs (about 1 1/2 packets of Oreos, white centres removed and crushed)
115g (1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup pouring cream, plus 1/2 cups
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
A pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
4 ounces (115g) good-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tbsp icing sugar
To decorate: Gummi worms (snakes), Flake chocolate

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Combine cookie crumbs and butter well and press into a single pie dish or 4-6 individual dishes. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes to set the crust, then remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

In a small saucepan combine sugar, 3/4 cup cream, buttermilk, cornstarch and pinch of salt, and whisk until smooth. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, whisking from time to time for the sugar and cornstarch to dissolve and the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Continue cooking at a low boil for an additional 5 minutes, whisking constantly.

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly. Pour 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolks and whisk thoroughly. Pour the egg yolk mixture back into saucepan with the remaining hot mixture and whisk over the heat until thoroughly combined and very thick, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl, and whisk in the chocolate, butter and vanilla. Continue whisking until thoroughly combined (mixture will be very thick). Cover the mixture with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface and refrigerate until cooled to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Place the 1/2 heavy cream in a chilled mixing bowl and add the icing sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cool chocolate pudding mixture, then spoon the chocolate mixture into the prepared pie crust. Using gummi worms and chocolate, decorate the top of the pie. Refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours. Can be stored for a couple of days in the fridge.

Duck & Cherry Pastries

Here's my savoury recipe for the season, you know that I don't get the urge to bake anything without sugar very often. But I have had these duck & morello cherry pastries on my mind for a long time. I got swept up by this idea of making duck pies, and I couldn't let it go. Finally, I decided to get off my lazy behind and make these. They might not be the prettiest pastries you've ever seen, but they are mouth-wateringly delicious.

I decided to try using Bourke St Bakery's savoury shortcrust pastry, since I had so much success with their sweet shortcrust in the past. And though it definitely did not disappoint in flavour, it didn't hold it's shape as much as I had hoped, probably because it is quite a flaky pastry with big streaks of butter through it. But it tasted so rich and divine that I didn't really care how it looked. I tried to do some parcels with nicely pleated edges (we call them pasties here), but gave up halfway and made other half as little gallettes, and in the end the pasties didn't even hold their shape so the gallettes looked much better. The main thing that stopped me from doing this recipe sooner was the fact that I needed an extra day's preparation, and it's very hard to find the free time to do that when you work fulltime. But it turned out to be quite stress-free and it was easily completed on two weeknights. You could even complete it all in one day if you have the motivation, the only thing that makes this recipe long is the time you need to leave for the pastry to chill.

These definitely aren't going to make the healthiest dinner of the week, but when it's miserably cold you crave a bit of indulgence. The combination of the strong flavour from the duck meat and the crisp, buttery pastry is gorgeous, and then there is the added sweetness from the cherries. I cheated a little bit and bought half a roast duck from the local Chinese BBQ store, rather than cooking the duck meat myself, but I think that it saves a lot of time while still tasting great. I always use store bought roast ducks when I make red duck curry, it is a bit of a pain to peel the meat off the bones but no where near as much effort as cooking it yourself. Plus then the meat is already infused with so much flavour from the sauce and spices. Try to chose a red wine that is not too sweet when cooking the filling, as there is already a lot of sweetness from the cherries, orange zest and carrots. And don't be scared off by the prep time needed, you can make the pastry dough and the filling the night before and then roll, fill and bake them for dinner the next day. They are so worth it!

Duck & Cherry Pastries
(You will need to start this recipe a day ahead, shortcrust Pastry from the Bourke Street Bakery cookbook, makes 14 medium pastries)
For the pastry:
300g cold unsalted butter, cut into 1.5cm cubes
600g plain flour, chilled
1 tsp (5g) salt
3 tsp (15ml) white vinegar, chilled
170ml (2/3 cup) water, chilled
Eggwash, to brush

For the filling:
1/2 cooked duck, meat removed from bones and shredded (I bought a 1/2 roast duck from a Chinese bbq store)
1 brown onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup jarred morello cherries or fresh pitted cherries
Zest of 1/2 an orange
1 sprig of fresh thyme, chopped
Salt and pepper to season

Prepare the pastry dough; Remove the butter from the fridge 10 mins before starting, so that it has softened a little but is still very cold. Place butter, flour and salt in the food processor and pulse 3-4 times in 1 sec bursts to partly combine. (If no food processor available, use your fingertips to rub dry ingredients partly into butter) Empty out on to a clean surface and gather together. Combine water and vinegar and carefully sprinkle over the flour mixture. Using the palm of your hand, smear the mixture away from you on the bench. Gather dough together and repeat smearing process a few more times to bring it together. You should still be able to see streaks of butter through the dough. Divide into two flat disks, wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

To make the filling, sweat onions and carrot on medium heat with a bit of olive oil. When carrots and onions are tender, add wine and simmer until the liquid has reduced. Add duck, thyme and orange zest and simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Generously season with salt and pepper to taste. Gently fold in cherries, trying to keep them intact. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. Can be stored overnight in the fridge.

When ready to assemble pastries, remove dough from fridge 20 mins before starting. Also take duck out of fridge if it has been chilling. Sprinkle a light dusting of flour on a clean workbench and flour your rolling pin. Roll out the dough until it is 3mm thick, then using a 14-15cm diameter bowl/plate/cutter as a guide, cut out circles of dough. Alternatively, separate the two disks into 14 equal balls of dough and roll them out into circles individually. Place on lined baking sheets and chill for at least an hour to allow the gluten in the dough to relax.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Split duck mixture into 14 even portions, about 1/4 cup of filling for each pastry. Place filling in the middle of the pastry, then brush egg wash around the edge of the dough. To make the parcels, bring edges together at the top of the pastry and pinch together firmly to form a crinkled edge. To make galettes, simply fold all the edges in over the filling.

Place on lined baking tray and bake for around 20 mins, or until pastry is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks, serve warm. Can be stored in the fridge for several nights and reheated in the oven.