Test driving Tim Tam Brownies Recipe

Step 1. Gather the ingredients

Brownie Mix
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup water
1 egg
1 pack Tim Tams

Step 2. Combine all ingredients (except Tim Tams)

Oops! ‘Scuse fingers. No shell please

 Step 3. Spread a layer of brownie goo in a pan

Hmm…. maybe I should have used 2 packs of brownie mix

 Step 4.  Mmmmm Tim Tams

Wishing I’d bought 2 packs of Tim Tams. 1 and a bit for brownie testing, some for eating

 Step 5. Cover with more brownie goo

It becomes rapidly apparent I needed more brownie goo, and there was going to be precious little left in the bowl for me to lick

 Step 6. Cook for 30 minutes at 190C

 Step 7. Lick the bowl

Yummmmmmmmo

 Step 8. It’s done when a skewer comes out clean, then cool in the pan for 15 minutes

Ouch! I burned my mowf on the skewer

 Step 9. Remember that you should have used baking paper to line the tin

Dammit! Wonder if I can stick it back together with the fudge?

 Step 10.  Try drowning it in faux cream to see if that helps

The good news is…. because it’s faux cream, logic declares it’s full of faux calories

VERDICT: Tim Tam brownies are not as nice as they sound.  Apart from all the cooking problems that may have been related to my lack of skills – the chocolate melts, but the biscuits stay hard.  In fact the biscuits get harder.  Maybe if you crushed the biscuits up, or soaked them in something for an hour or two first… but I think you’d be better off making brownies AND having Tim Tams.

Rainbow Cake in a Jar

A couple of months ago I decided to make rainbow cake in a jar from this recipe:

As you will notice, the recipe is both straightforward and easy to follow.

In my defense however, it is done using imperial measurement units rather than the more civilized metric units used in Australia.

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So I had to improvise a little 

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Which, in hindsight, is probably where the wheels fell off.  Oops

  • Firstly, I decided to use a white mud cake mix instead of a normal cake mix.  Because I like chocolate
  • Secondly, I chose to guess at what a pint was – and settled on “about the size of a chicken tonight jar”.  Because that’s what I had in the cupboard
  • Lastly, when the recipe said “lightly grease the inside of the jar” – I took that to mean “empty half a can of spray oil into the jar and swish it around a bit”.  Because apparently I’m stupid

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The lessons I learned from all of this were

1. A pint is a lot smaller than I thought it was

What a pint is:

A Cup

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What I thought a pint was:

A CupA Cup

A CupA Cup

A CupA Cup

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2. Use something a little runnier than mud cake mix

3. Use a wide necked jar or smaller spoons

4. Food colouring stains stuff and you really don’t need as much as you think you will

5. Greasing the jars does not mean half filling the jar with oil

6. When the cake isn’t cooked after the suggested 30 mins – put it back for a little bit longer, not another 30 mins.

7. Wiping down the inside of the jars would almost certainly  have been a lot easier BEFORE the cake and spray had been baked into them for an hour.

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52 things to celebrate in December

1st

  • Eat a Red Apple Day
  • Pie Day
  • World Aids Day

2nd

  • National Fritters Day
  • Day for the Abolition of Slavery

3rd

  • Day of People with Disabilities

4th

  • Wear Brown Shoes Day
  • Santas List Day

5th

  • Sacher Torte Day
  • Volunteers Day

6th

  • Gazpacho Day

7th

  • Cotton Candy Day
  • Pearl Harbour Day
  • Civil Aviation Day

8th

  • National Brownie Day

9th

  • Pastry Day
  • Anti-Corruption Day

10th

  • Human Rights Day

11th

  • National Noodle Ring Day
  • International Shareware Day

12th

  • International Childrens Day

13th

  • Ice Cream Day
  • Violin Day
  • St Lucia Day

14th

  • Bouillabaisse Day

15th

  • Lemon Cupcake Day

16th

  • Chocolate Covered Anything Day

17th

  • National Maple Syrup Day

18th

  • Migrants Day

19th

  • Oatmeal Muffin Day

20th

  • Human Solidarity Day

21st

  • Hamburger Day
  • French Fried Shrimp Day
  • Solstice (winter in North, summer in South)
  • World Peace Day
  • Look on the Bright Side Day

22nd

  • Date-Nut Bread Day

23rd

  • Roots Day

24th

  • National Egg Nog Day
  • Christmas Eve

25th

  • Pumpkin Pie Day
  • Christmas Day

26th

  • Kwanzaa
  • Boxing Day
  • Day of Goodwill

27th

  • Fruitcake Day

28th

  • Card Playing Day

29th

  • Chocolate Day

30th

  • Bicarbonate of Soda Day
  • Oh My! Day

31st

  • New Years Eve
  • Make up Your Mind Day