Recipes: Tried & Tested (Part 1)

 Every now and then, I actually end up making something that I've seen on Pinterest, sometimes it's a hit, other times a miss, but this recipe I found was a definite winner worth blogging about. These little Hershey Kissi-Pies are not only the cutest little delicacies (I'm all about ascetics when it comes to baking) but they taste divine and area stupidly easy to make. I thought I'd share the recipe that I found at Picky Palate, especially with the holidays coming up, because these are the perfect little holiday treats; they look a lot like Christmas to me. I actually made my second batch of these tonight for a friend's birthday party, and they went down like a dream. 

Instructions:

{Preheat oven to 350F}

1.) Get out your ingredients of pie crusts and your choice of Hershey Kisses (I love the dark ones personally)

2.) Roll out your pie crust onto a surface prepped with flour and space the kisses out evenly

3.) Cut a circular shape around each chocolate (The size of the circle is dependent on how big you want to make them, your choice entirely)

4.) Fold the two opposite sides of the circle together

5.) Fold the remaining two sides together and press firmly until the correct shape is formed.

6.) Paint each kiss-pie with some egg

7.) Drizzle a small amount of sugar onto each 

8.) Space out evenly onto a greased baking tray and bake for plus/minus 20-25 minutes (until golden brown)

9.) Sprinkle with some powdered sugar and serve warm. Enjoy. 

{All images and recipe from Picky Palate}

With our love for French sugary delights overpowering us, my two friends and I joined forces this week in an attempt to bake some Macaroons. With the word on the street being that these little guys require much culinary skill to perfect, we hoped that we had what it takes to churn out a batch of semi-decent ones. 

To give credit where credit is absolutely due, our first tray full of chocolate flavored macaroons were flawless, and after taste-tests and high-fives, we were proud to have been conquerers. 

The recipe and baking procedure is definitely not for amateurs, but if you enjoy having a sugar carnival take place in your mouth, baking macaroons is well worth the risk and effort.

Here are some snapshots from our macaroon-making laboratory:

Christmas baking and cookie decorating

If there's one thing these Americans know how to do, and do well, it's celebrate the holidays. Here are some shots from a memorable afternoon baking and frosting Christmas cookies with beautiful friends from around the world.

Pumpkin Flavored Fun

My amazing new friend Hannah and I decided to join forces on Halloween night and bake pies, carve pumpkins and drink obscene amounts of chai tea. Mission accomplished.

In between handing out candy to visiting trick-or-treaters, we whipped up two delish creations, and considering the fact that we were both pie-baking rookies, they turned out ridiculously well. Whilst they were still warm to the touch, we dolloped whipped cream onto our slices, and sat with our feet up sipping chai and watching Amélie and Bridget Jones. You know, just reveling in the glory of single life.

The first one to hit the oven was the pumpkin pie, and being from South Africa, I had only ever tasted this once before in my life, so I was most excited to actually bake my own from scratch. 

Pumpkin Pie:

We originally only intended to make one pie, but seeing as though we had an extra pastry dish, we scoured the fridge for anything that remotely resembled pie ingredients. In the end we conjured up an apple and mixed berry pie, which was ironically the more delicious of the two.
We added apples, mixed berries, raisins, sugar, cinnamon and then topped it with an oat, sugar and honey crumble. Mmmm mmmm.


Apple and Berry Pie:

While the pies were in the oven, we teamed up to carve our first ever pumpkin, and it's a lot more of a risky ordeal than I had imagined, but we managed to do it and leave fairly unscathed. 
I was impressed with how great our girly-looking pumpkin turned out, and once the tea light candles were placed inside, it made the perfect Halloween decoration for outside our front door. This was a truly American experience for me, and I wish my childhood had been filled with more pumpkin-carving!