Thursday, February 24, 2011

Ginger Crunch Cookies


Who loves a warm, spicy melt in your mouth biscuit straight from the oven, preferably while sipping a good cup of tea with your legs up relaxing in a comfy chair. 
Yep I would put my hand up for that!
 That's what these cookies do to me.. just make me feel all warm and cosy and the need to just chill for a while!


They have a gorgeous combination of cinnamon and ginger with chunks of glazed ginger sprinkled throughout and a finished crunch of almond. Devine.


Could be even better than a holiday... hmmm maybe not quite! That's what i am truly in the need of though a holiday.. not a sight seeing or "tripping" round kinda holiday but one that involves doing N.O.T.H.I.N.G!

The pure indulgence of sitting around in a beach chair on a sandy secluded stretch of beach with a good book,  my toes scrunched up in the sand, the wind playing in my hair, the seagulls squawking in the background and a nice Ginger Crunch Cookie to munch on... yep that would suit me right to the ground just about now!




Anyone else feeling the New Year Blues? The New Year Blues seem to hit around now i think. Holiday season is over, school and work have started back and the reality of the daily grind gets you!

I have just the solution for the New Year Blues...... yep a Ginger Crunch Cookie (That's if you can't have a holiday)!




Ingredients:
2 Cups Plain Flour
½ Tsp Bicarb Soda
1 Tsp Cinnamon
2 Tsp Ground Ginger
1 Cup Castor Sugar
125g Butter
1 Egg
1 Tsp Golden Syrup
2 Tbsp Glace Ginger – Finely Chopped
Almonds

Method:
1.    Preheat oven to 160 degrees.
2.    In a bowl place sifted dry ingredients and butter. Rub together with fingertips until a “crumb” forms and butter is rubbed in.
3.    Add egg, golden syrup, and glace ginger and mix together until combined.
4.    Knead on a floured surface until smooth.
5.    Roll round teaspoons of mixture into balls, place on lined cookie tray and flatten slightly and press in an almond. Place each biscuit 3cm apart.
6.    Cook for 20 min or until golden brown.




These cookies would make a great the perfect gift, boxed up with one of our bags of 100g pouches of Tea in a little hamper. I packed these cookies in a large cupcake box and finished it off with brown paper, jute twine and cardboard which i had lying around!





Simply Tea Selections

A great Simply Tea blend to accompany this gingery cookie would be it's ginger twin - Thai Delight. It is a zesty blend of lemongrass and ginger which creates a refreshing and wild taste sensation. You can purchase this taste sensation for $13.00/100g or a sample bag for $2.


Yes, Please I'll have that!
 If that wild combination is a bit much for your taste buds a milder recommendation would be our Pu-erh Oolong. A special semi-fermented tea with a typical earthy, light and sweet taste, has many therapeutic qualities, often taken for indigestion and cholesterol ailments. This tea is packed full of health benefits and you can learn more about this tea here. You can purchase our Pu-erh Oolong for $10.00/100g or $2.00 for a sample pack.

Pu-erh Oolong Tea





Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Contented Baby Cupcakes

I threw a baby shower for a friend of mine over the weekend. It was a great time to catch up with her and spoil her with this day. It was going to be an afternoon tea and i knew i had to find some form of baby related cupcake to make for the afternoon tea.  I found these cutest cupcakes on the net and i knew i just had to try and make them. 

I found that they were quite easy to make and weren't too fussy to decorate which i was happy about! I made chocolate cupcakes for the base but you could use any flavour. They were a real winner at the shower and i received many comments about them!

Aren't they just adorable??? 




Ingredients:
 
Chocolate Cake-
150g Butter
1 ½ Cups Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
1 ¼ Cups Water
2 ¼ Cups Plain Flour
1/3 Cups Cocoa Powder
1 ¼ Tsp Baking Soda
¼ Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt

Butter Cream Icing-
125g Butter
250g Icing Sugar
2 Tsp Hot Milk
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
Food Colouring

Dummies
Musk Lifesavers
Peppermint Lifesavers
½ block Cooking White Chocolate
Food Colouring (Blue, Red)

Dark Chocolate, to pipe facial features


Method 
Cake:

1.    Beat butter and sugar till creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined.
2.    Sift together in a bowl, flour, coco powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3.    Transfer wet ingredients to a large bowl and carefully mix in dry ingredients and water.
4.    Pour into prepared cupcake papers and bake in 180 degree oven for approx 25 min. Set aside to cool.

Icing:

1.    Beat the butter until light and fluffy.
2.    Sift in icing sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth
3.    Place in an air tight container until ready to use.

Dummies:

1.    Melt white chocolate until smooth. Divide between two bowls and colour with food colouring to pink and blue.
2.    Place coloured chocolate into piping bags and pipe circles onto grease proof paper placed over a oven tray.
3.    Place the musk life savers into the pink chocolate circles and the white ones into the blue chocolate.
4.    Place in fridge to set.

Assembly:

1.    Cut the tops off the cupcakes if they are too rounded. Ice with butter cream icing all the way to the edge of the cupcake.
2.    Place the chocolate dummies in the lower center portion of the cupcake.
3.    Melt the dark chocolate and pipe the smile, eyes and nose.
4.    On grease proof paper using the dark chocolate pipe small swirls for the hair. Let it set. Place in the top of the cupcake.




 Simply Tea Sipper

If your serving these cupcakes as part of a "high tea" or afternoon tea for a baby shower i would suggest serving two types of tea. A nice strong black tea always goes down well as part of a afternoon tea and our "Simply Tea" blend suits that. It is a good strong fine leaf blend of Ceylon tea . You can purchase our Simply Tea for $7.00 for 100g or our sample pack for $2 (which make one pot of tea). 

Simply Tea Blend

The second tea which i would recommend serving is our "Vanilla" tea. It is a China and Ceylon tea blended with the finest natural vanilla flavour, aroma enriched by vanilla pieces from Madagascar. How devine does that sound. You can purchase our vanilla tea for $11.00 for 100g or our sample pack for $2.


Vanilla Tea





Visit Us At: The Simply Tea Shop ~ "For The Love Of Tea" ~

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