Hedgehog Slice

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

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Our local library invariably has a small display of books that are for sale. These are either former library books or (I am guessing) they are books that people have donated that the library has chosen not to add to its collection. That’s the only way I can explain why some have barcodes and some don’t. The books are always insanely cheap (20c for a paperback) and while the number and range available varies widely, it is always worth spending a minute or two perusing.

A month or so ago I picked up Basics to Brilliance: Slices Recipes, put together by Family Circle and published only a few years ago. For some reason, I have it in my head that now that Master 4 is at pre-school (and soon to be at school) slices should be a part of my repertoire. I don’t know why I think that – I’m not the type of parent who includes sweet treats in a lunch box and we certainly don’t have cake and friends all the time at home.

I’ve spent quite a lot of time poring over this book and even managed to induce some cookbook envy in at least one friend. Even though the book was only published in 2007 the recipes definitely have a slightly old fashioned feel to them. I’m not sure that had this book been produced in the 70s or 80s it would have been much different.

And that is a good thing – there’s a reason why classics are classics. Some things just work and taste good. And don’t need trend driven labels attached to them.

Last weekend we were heading to my cousin’s house for my aunt’s birthday celebrations and we were planning on taking a plate of charcuterie with us. However, a quick check meant my cousin requested something sweet and, on very limited time, I consulted the book and found the hedgehog slice.

Many slice recipes are a bit time consuming because you have to deal with layers. Not so the hedgehog and it has the bonus of being a refrigerator cake – no oven and perfect if you are wanting an activity to do with a small child. If you are really pushed for time then you can skip the ganache topping.

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Hedgehog Slice

Ingredients

    hedgehog
  • 125g unsalted butter
  • ½ cup caster sugar
  • 125g plain, sweet biscuits (I used a plain shortbread)
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • ½ cup coca powder
  • 1 egg
    • ganache
  • 125g dark chocolate
  • 30g unsalted butter

Instructions

  1. Line a 20cm square tin with foil. If you only have a larger tin - don't worry. The hedgehog mixture is very thick and will stay in one part of the tin.
  2. In a pan, heat the butter and sugar until the butter is melted and the sugar dissolved.
  3. Lightly crush the biscuits. Put them in a freezer bag and give them a gentle beating with a rolling pin.
  4. Chop the walnuts. I did this in the food processor - you want them reasonably chunky so with a knife would be fine.
  5. Lightly beat the egg.
  6. Once the sugar has completely dissolved, reduce the heat to low and add the biscuits, cocoa and walnuts. Stir well and then remove from the heat.
  7. Allow to cool a little and then mix the egg through thoroughly.
  8. Pour into your pan and flatten off. Put in the fridge to set.
  9. Once the hedgehog is set (this will only take half an hour to an hour), make the ganache. Melt the chocolate and butter together (in the microwave for speed and ease) until smooth, allow to cool and thicken slightly and then spread over the hedgehog.
  10. Using a fork, create a wavy pattern if desired.
  11. Refrigerate again. When ready to serve, cut into squares. It should make around 16-20 pieces.
  12. Best served straight from the fridge.
https://eatingadelaide.com/hedgehog-slice/

Avoca Hotel, Clarence Gardens

- Alex Prichard 1 Comment

 

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date of visit: Saturday 20 June 2015

The new Entertainment Books have been on sale for quite a while and we took a while making a decision about which charity or cause we were going to support (for the record, the RSPCA) and whether we were going to go digital or paper. A friend of mine had already bought her digital version so we had a look at it and decided to give it a go. So far we’ve used it twice and there’s been no issues … so fingers crossed things stay that way.

Newly acquired app in hand, we were keen to use it so we embarked on the torturous process that is making a weekend dinner decision. Obviously, this time round we wanted somewhere in the book and it needed to be somewhere that started dinner service at 5:30 pm at the latest. Master Four cannot be waiting for his dinner!

Andy rang up and booked and reported that we were booked into the restaurant, which didn’t mean much to either of us. Like many suburban pubs, the Avoca has undergone overhauls in recent years and it now has a range of areas, including the restaurant but also the Glasshouse and the Decks and beer garden. In fact, there are enough areas that when you arrive they have signs pointing in different directions to help you find your way!

As the pub is on South Road, finding it is easy and there’s a ton of parking out the back, which, given its location, is essential. However, the Avoca is really popular and we might have arrived at 5:30pm but it didn’t mean that we had our choice of car parks. The restaurant was (unsurprisingly!) empty but Andy had been told that other dining areas were booked out. The bonus of dining in the restaurant was that we had full table service. Master 4 approved – you should have seen the look on his face when he got to order his own meal!

Food wise the menu offers the pub standards (schnitzel, pizza, salt and pepper squid) as well as a few more interesting dishes, such as prawn chu chee curry, crispy skinned salmon, pork belly and fillet steak. There is also a short children’s menu which is unexciting.

Master 4 decided he wanted fish and chips so our first priority was to check out what the children’s fish and chips actually was. We’ve been in pubs where the children’s food has a horrible almost pre-masticated pale pale shadow of proper food, so we are always a little bit wary. I’d rather buy Master 4 a full portion of food he doesn’t finish than something I wouldn’t eat myself.

However, our waiter assured us that the children’s fish and chips was identical to the adult version, but only one piece of fish. While the Avoca is to be commended that this fish is sustainably caught, it is disappointing that the choice has been made to use NZ hoki. Especially as hoki is blue grenadier and locally caught is available. And while the fish was nicely cooked, the batter was crispy and the chips were … chips, the addition of a small salad for children wouldn’t go astray. As all the children’s meals come with the option of soft drinks or ice cream, perhaps salad or vegetables could be added to that choice.

Andy chose the chicken schnitzel with gravy (a departure from the usual beef as that is 350g and was deemed too large) and I opted for the chicken burger. Not only was the chicken burger huge but it was also really tasty. Bacon, tomato, cheese, lettuce and dill mayonnaise – with all the salad parts lovely and fresh and the chicken moist. I loved it. In fact, I’m still talking about. I would definitely go back and be sorely tempted to eat it again rather than try anything else on the menu.

The service was good – I definitely enjoyed having table service and the staff were all friendly but at no point intrusive. Of course, this is a pub so things are efficient so perhaps don’t expect a luxuriously long meal. I understand that despite the hotel’s many different areas, the menu is common so you don’t have to worry about different foods in different areas. I was impressed – yes, this is a pub dinner and while I’ve had some great ones recently, I’ve also had some shockers. And an impressed and happy customer talks about it and … guess what … some friends of ours have already (happily) dined there!

The Avoca Hotel
893 South Road
Clarence Gardens SA
8293 1183

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Adelaide Chocolate School: Truffle Making for Beginners

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

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Not so long ago a friend of mine spotted a group buying deal for a truffle making class at the Adelaide Chocolate School. It worked out at half price and seemed like a fun way to spend an afternoon so why not? We bought the deal and booked ourselves in straight away (see my top five hints for group buying restaurant deals). The booking process (which my mate did, not me!) seemed a bit long winded, as you had to reserve online and then wait for confirmation of your chosen date/time – so it might not be ideal for anyone with a very restricted schedule.

Fortunately, we got our desired date/time and so we headed along last Sunday afternoon to see what it was all about. While I’m happy and confident making ganache, I have never actually made truffles so I was really interested to have the experience and (to a certain extent) have my hand held through it.

The class is 2 hours long and it does absolutely start on time! We arrived very early so we went for a coffee, which meant we walked through the door of the chocolate school bang on 1pm (maybe a minute after!) and things had just started and we were the last ones there. Be early!

There was a bit of introduction before we moved on to choosing our chocolate and starting on our ganache. We had a choice of white, milk or dark chocolate (I chose dark) and we each got 300g of chocolate and a funky little bench top electric bain-marie. I normally melt chocolate in the microwave so going back to the bain-marie method was a bit sloooow for impatient me but it was really interesting to learn that you can use anything which has an element to melt your chocolate. Our elements were set at 80°C (I don’t think they got quite that high) and the instructor said that if, for example, you had an electric fry pan you could heat to a low temperature you could use that. No water required – just place your chocolate in a metal dish on the element.

20150621_131746electric bain-marie

We melted our 300g of chocolate with ⅓ cup of cream (we used full fat UHT cream). Being dark chocolate mine took ages to melt and I would have liked a bit more time at this stage of proceedings.

Once the chocolate and cream was smooth, we divided it in to two batches and flavoured each. I chose rose and coffee as my flavourings. We used flavouring essences which I wasn’t such a fan of. The flavour wasn’t quite as true or intense as I would like but I do understand that essences are a great way of imparting flavour without having to mess with proportions. A few drops of coffee essence is a much easier way of doing things, than using actual coffee and ensuring you reduce the amount of cream appropriately. This makes it extremely versatile and easy in a class situation but not a way I’d be flavouring my own truffles in the future.

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Flavourings added and adjusted, we poured the ganache onto baking paper and popped it into the fridge to firm up. This is another step where I’d have liked a little more time, as when we came to work our ganache, mine was still quite soft, which made it quite sticky. Nonetheless, the ganache was easy to work with and it was simple to break it up and roll it into little balls. We then did two layers of chocolate covering. This was the messy part and fortunately we had plenty of latex gloves to hand. Rather than dipping the truffles, we spooned melted chocolate onto a gloved hand and then rolled the truffle lightly and quickly to coat it. I’m really glad I had a first go at doing this in class. At home I would never have worn gloves (which would have been a mistake!) and you do actually need to use quite a lot of chocolate. Because my truffles were slightly rough from being a bit warm when I rolled them, being parsimonious with the chocolate meant I ended up with slightly spiky truffles! Next time, I’ll make sure to load up!

Two coats of chocolate and then on to decoration. As I am not a pretty-pretty-let’s-decorate-everything kind of person I went for immensely stylish drizzles of white and dark chocolate on my rose and coffee truffles respectively. Loads of people in the class did much more creative and painstaking decoration than I will ever manage!

After decorating you need to leave the chocolates to dry before bagging them up (or, better yet, bring a hard container from home and you can store them neatly in one layer and preserve your decoration) and then the class was over.

I thought that for $35 the class was great fun and good value for money but I don’t think I’d have felt the same way had it cost me $80 (current website price). I wasn’t madly in love with my chocolates (hasn’t stopped me eating them, mind!) – and I personally would use couverture chocolate (in class we used compound chocolate which just doesn’t taste as good). An excellent tip was that even if you use couverture chocolate for your ganache, if you’re not tempering it, use compound chocolate for the dipping stages to ensure a glossy finish.

What the class has done is given me is the much needed kick to ensure that I actually have a go at making my own truffles in future. I will definitely invest in the latex gloves and ensure I’m generous with the dipping chocolate. The question of flavourings is going to give me a lot of room for experimentation but I’m reasonably sure I’ll be able to put in place plenty of quality control measures …

Adelaide Chocolate School
48 Melbourne Street
North Adelaide SA 5006
(08) 7120 2664