FOOD

Easter magic Look what Chelsea (10 years) and Brendon (8 years) baked for EastLife readers.

Discover pure Easter magic with Easter Egg Nests What better way to celebrate Easter than have our junior home cooks with flour power create some Easter treats? Young chefs share their favourite recipe with a taste of deliciousness.

EASTER EGG NESTS

Makes 12-16

INGREDIENTS

• 125g butter • 200g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped • 2/3 cup caster sugar • 1tsp vanilla extract • 3 eggs • 2/3 cups self-raising flour, sifted • Chocolate Butter Frosting or Green Coconut Icing (recipes follow) • Mini chocolate Easter eggs, to decorate

Chocolate Butter Frosting

• 50g butter, softened • 1 cup icing sugar, sifted • 2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted • 1tsp vanilla essence • 2 tbsp boiling water

Green Coconut Icing

• 1 cup shredded coconut • A few drops of green food colouring

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease muffin tin or line with paper casings. Melt butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan one-quarter full of gently simmering water. Or, microwave for 2 minutes (in short bursts) to melt. Stir until smooth. 2. Add sugar and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer until combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add flour and beat just enough to combine.

3. Spoon mixture into prepared tin or paper cases. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of one cake comes out clean. Remove to cool on a wire rack.

4. To make the Chocolate Butter Frosting, place all ingredients in a bowl and beat until pale and creamy.

5. To make the Green Coconut Icing, mix together the food colouring with 1/2 tbsp of water and mix into coconut.

6. Slather or pipe Chocolate Butter Frosting on top of cold cupcakes to form nests. Fill nests with mini chocolate Easter eggs to decorate or sprinkle on Green Coconut Icing.

Ice Ice baby! Budding junior chef Emily (10 years) from Half Moon Bay had fun baking and decorating colourful iced biscuits.

ICED BISCUITS

INGREDIENTS

• 125g butter • 1/2 cup Chelsea sugar • 1 tbsp Chelsea golden syrup • 1 tbsp Meadow Fresh milk • 1 1/2 cups Edmonds

Standard Grade Flour • 1 tsp Edmonds Baking

Soda

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Combine the butter, sugar, golden syrup and milk in a saucepan over a medium heat. Heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is almost boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool to lukewarm. Sift the flour and baking soda together, add to the cooled mixture and stir well.

Roll tablespoonful of the mixture into balls, place on the prepared tray and press down with a floured fork. Bake for 15–20 minutes or until golden brown. Leave on the tray for 1–2 minutes then place on a wire rack to cool.

For icing, use Chelsea icing sugar with one tsp butter and hot water with food colouring of choice and sprinkles on the top.

METHOD

Fun with Easter goodies

LittleCooks teaches kids the basics of cooking so that they can learn not only about new flavours, textures and tastes, but also what’s in the food they eat! Children get to practise a multitude of skills required to cook – fine motor skills, maths, reading, following a set of instructions, also substituting an ingredient if it is missing! Learning to cook allows kids to build confidence while having fun and ultimately making better food choices. LittleCooks share an egg-xtra special recipe.

Recipe from Piggy Pasta with More Food with Attitude, Scholastic – LittleCooks

CHOCOLATE COCONUT / PEANUT BUTTER EGGS

INGREDIENTS:

• 50g butter, softened • 1/2 cup cream cheese • 2 1/2 cups icing sugar • 1/4 tsp salt • 1 tsp vanilla essence • 1 cup peanut butter or 1 1/4 cup desiccated coconut

Coating:

• 250g chocolate melts • Hundreds and Thousands

Sprinkles (optional)

EQUIPMENT:

• Cup and spoon measures • Scale • Glass jug to use in the microwave • Butter knife to stir • Baking tray • Baking paper

METHOD:

1. Cover an oven tray with baking paper.

2. In a bowl, mix all ingredients (except the chocolate) with a hand mixer until combined. (This is where you get to choose whether the eggs are coconut eggs or peanut butter). 3. Wet your hands, then mould a tablespoons sized egg shape and place on the tray.

4. Break up the chocolate into a microwave safe glass jug. Heat in the microwave for 40-50 seconds on high. Take it out and stir it with a butterknife. If it starts to melt while stirring, keep stirring. If it needs more time and is still not melted, put it back in the microwave for another 30-40 seconds. Take it out and continue to stir it with a butter knife. Be careful not to overcook!

5. Dip the ‘egg’ into the melted (hopefully not so hot) chocolate to cover. Place on the tray.

6. Sprinkle with Hundreds and

Thousands or sprinkles of your choice, or re drizzle with white chocolate even!

7. Place on the baking tray and leave to set in the fridge.

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CHOCOLATE EASTER TRUFFLES

With Easter coming up, here is a great recipe that is not only mouthwatering but also healthy, from a leader in essential oils, Young Living.

Prep Time – 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 170g 50 per cent dark chocolate, finely chopped • 1 tbsp coconut oil • 1/3 cup coconut milk • 1 pinch sea salt • 1/2 tsp cloves, ground • 1 tbsp organic maple syrup • 2 drops ginger essential oil • 2 drops cinnamon bark essential oil • 1 drop nutmeg essential oil • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder for rolling

METHOD:

Place the chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and set aside.

Combine the coconut oil, organic maple syrup, coconut milk and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer (do not boil).

Pour the mixture over the reserved chopped chocolate. Let stand for 1-2 minutes, then stir gently until completely melted and smooth. Stir in the ground clove and cinnamon bark, ginger and nutmeg essential oils.

Refrigerate for approximately two hours, until mixture is just set. With a small scoop or spoon, make 12 balls, rolling each between the palms of your hands until smooth. Place 1/4 cup of cocoa powder in the bottom of a shallow plate or dish. Roll each truffle in the cocoa until coated. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes until firm.

Remove from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature 10 minutes before serving.

Makes a dozen truffles.

Truffles can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to two weeks.

ARE YOU READY FOR A COOKING CHALLENGE?

Culinary students have an exciting goal to set their sights on this year with the return of the National Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge (NSSCC) after a twoyear break due to Covid.

NSSCC chief judge Mark Wylie says the event, run by the Culinary Arts Development Trust is used to promote hospitality as a career to students with an interest in becoming chefs, restaurant managers or fulfilling roles within the industry. It also provides a platform for teachers to network and meet industry contacts.

“This competition is more important than ever now. The hospitality industry has taken a hell of a hit in the last two years and our industry colleagues will be looking to New Zealand more than ever before for students coming through who can fill roles. Given everything we’ve gone through during the pandemic, it is really important,” says Mark.

He assures food technology, home economics, and hospitality teachers and students that the trust has developed a strategy to ensure the challenge proceeds this year without any Covid interruptions.

Part of that strategy is to move the eight regional semi-finals online where teams of two students (with their teacher as their manager) will prepare and present an entrée with beetroot as the ‘hero’ of the dish.

Once they have presented their dish it must be photographed to demonstrate all its components. Students will need to fill in a questionnaire to demonstrate the thought process and skill behind their dish.

Over $8000 worth of prizes will be awarded in the semi-final. A finalist team from each of the eight regions will then compete in a live kitchen challenge at Manukau Institute of Technology in Auckland on September 7 where $12,000 in prizes is up for grabs including a Moffat E23M3 oven for the winning school.

Closing date for regional entries is July 8. To express interest for 2022 NSSCC please e-mail info@ nsscc.nz or go to www. nsscc.nz for more information.

A finalist entrée in 2019 where carrots were the hero of the dish.

Taste

From tempting tipples to tasty treats, life can be ‘fare’ enough, thanks to these new (and recent) additions to shelves.

NOUGHTY IS NICE!

Let’s face it, fizzy is fun! Unfortunately, those who enjoy fizzy drinks the most (little ones) should partake of them the least. That’s when it pays to be a little Noughty. Despite being packed with vitamins and minerals to help children grow, these drinks contain natural sugars from apples (just 6.1g per can) with no artificial sweeteners, colours or preservatives. Available from supermarkets (RRP $12 per sixpack, 250ml cans) Noughty drinks come in three tasty flavours: Cola, Appleberry and Lemonade.

STONED FRUIT?

As we’re all aware, sometimes nature throws stones. For this reason, it’s essential that we don’t let good food go to waste. The Yummy Fruit Company’s Hailstone Heroes apples (available at supermarkets, RRP $7.69 per bag) may not be the prettiest crop on the block, but they are nourishing, healthy and tasty. In addition, purchasing this weathereffected fruit helps Kiwi growers make the most from their hard work, which is even more important when it seems like nature is actually throwing boulders!

CRUNCH IT UP!

Tired of the same old flavours? Here’s something to mix it up a bit. Available for a short period of time – the iconic Hot Cross Bun is celebrated by Kiwi families and foodies alike. Hot Cross Bun fans can rejoice as Kellogg’s has launched the Limited Edition Sultana Bran® Hot Cross Bun Flavour Cereal to celebrate the rich and indulgent taste of freshly baked hot cross buns in every bowl. The mouth-watering Sultana Bran® Hot Cross Bun Flavour Cereal combines malty flakes and sultanas with cinnamon and spice flavour for the ultimate breakfast delight. Try it with warm milk to enjoy the nostalgic scent of spices and freshly baked hot cross buns straight out of the oven.

LOSE WEIGHT WITH BIO SLIM PROGRAM

If losing weight was one of your New Year resolutions here’s an idea on how to kickstart your weight management journey. BioSlim VLCD program* is the newest and easy meal replacement range to hit New Zealand shores. Nutritionally complete and with shakes formulated with the awardwinning ingredient SlimBiome®, BioSlim provides an interchangeable range of delicious shakes, bars and soups to help with the dietary management of obesity. Containing just 800 calories when used three serves per day, BioSlim fulfils the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) for all vitamins, minerals, nutrients and protein. Available exclusively at Unichem and Life Pharmacies nationwide from RRP $23.99.