Anzac Biscuits 3 ways - Traditional, with Rosemary and Gluten Free

Tomorrow is Anzac Day. I have had the privilege of visiting Gallipoli, a place both powerful and poignant, and a physical reminder that we must never forget. I visited on a warm spring day, the smell of rosemary in the air from the many bushes dotted through the peninsula scrub, fat bees lazily looping around their flowers. The sky was a cloudless blue endless except for the white streak from a jet engine and Anzac cove was calm, the only noise the gentle lapping waves despite the numerous visitors milling around, we were all mute, silent with contemplation, trying to reconcile what we knew of this place with the bright landscape itself. It is hard to imagine just how difficult this terrain is until you stand on the escarpment and look down on the narrow strip of beach where the troops landed. How it would feel landing in darkness on that beach, coming under fire and looking up at the series of ridges you cannot ascend is a horror I cannot imagine.

Treacle Brandy Snap Cones

Bubbly, buttery, crunchy, heavenly spiced cones… Have I got your attention yet?

 

I relish brandy snap - baskets, tubular biscuits, cones, any format they care to come in really. At boarding school they were one of the few and far between desserts (along with chocolate self-saucing pudding) that I actually a) wanted to eat  and b) wanted seconds of… needless to say we didn’t get them often. In our little kitchen we had tried a few times to make brandy snap baskets without much success, ending with hot batter (albeit wonderful tasting batter) that wouldn’t hold its shape. The trick is the cooking time.

 

Pistachio, Cardamom & Orange Flower Water Ice Cream Cones

When I cook with orange flower water I dab a little on my wrists, or a put a splash behind my ear as it's so fresh, light and perfumed it is the perfect scent for warm summer afternoons. It is also the perfect flavour for summer, in sorbet or a refreshing cocktail, and pairs especially well with pistachios. I wanted a thin buttery cone that could stand alone as a wafer thin biscuit, but would also compliment everything from a good vanilla bean ice cream to a rose sorbet. I ate more of these hot from the oven than made it to 'cone' stage, I kept trying them 'to make sure they were done'. I also persevered with putting three on a tray to bake even though I knew I only had time to roll two of them into cones before they were too cool and cracked. I hate wasting food so I really HAD to eat the cracked ones rather than let them go to waste.

Homemade Chocolate Waffle Cones

In the words of the soca singer Alphonsus "Arrow" Cassell I'm feeling hot hot hot, feeling hot hot hot; hear it from the top feeling hot, hear it from the top feeling HOT! Although unlike the song the last thing I want to do is party in this heat, instead I'd settle for sitting in a cold bath eating ice cream! I am obsessed with Maggie Beer's Burnt Fig, Honeycomb and Caramel ice cream which I will happily eat from the tub, unfortunately without some form of portion control I will happily eat my way through the whole tub, such is its deliciousness. Enter the Ice Cream Cone. Bowls come in many sizes but ice cream in a cone is limited to the size of the cone, and these chocolate ones are perfect mini-cones.

Sinterklaas: Speculaas

Sinterklaas marks the beginning of winter festivities and while it may not be winter in Australia (although Melbourne is trying) it still heralds the oncoming celebrations of flavour and warmth throughout December. More than any other biscuit I adore Speculaas. The combination of perfumed spices, creamy salted butter and deeply sweet brown sugar all in a crisp biscuit is phenomenal, but before you can begin to make Speculaas you must first summon a breeze from the East Indies laden with spices. While you can buy jars of Speculaas spice it is far more fun to blend your own personal mix, which incidentally makes for a great gift along with a recipe for Speculaas and some freshly baked biscuits (if you can part with them)!

 

Tonight is Pakjesavond and like children all over the Netherlands and Belgium my childhood clogs are set out with a carrot for Sinterklaas horse. Unlike when I was a child, I have filled my own clogs with chocolate coins, walnuts, oranges, and little pakjes of Speculaas tied up with string to give to my friends (and in that tradition of my family I have even bought myself a new toothbrush to counteract my sugar intake!)

Sinterklaas: Pepernoten

Sinterklaas is the time of year when it’s OK to throw biscuits into the corners of the room for children to scavenge and for naughty children to be carried off in hessian sacks. It’s a time to gather with family and close friends to exchange small gifts along with a teasing verse about something you did during the year (which you would usually rather forget). For me it is a time for fantastic baked goods, all of which have that heady combination of spices the Dutch have had a love affair with since the 16th century when the Golden Age of exploration sent them across the globe, in search of fortune and glory through nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and black pepper. As valuable as gold and worth dying for.

 

Macaroon vs Macaron: Walnut Cheesecake Macarons

French macarons have certainly been the 'flavour of the month' for considerably longer than a month. It seems like every café, bakery and patisserie has them in a myriad of hues, they have become such a phenomenon you can even get packet mixes for them in the supermarket (not highly recommended). The problem with such a glut of macaron is that not all macaron are created equal, nor is it easy to tell without tasting them all (not such a bad way to do it)!

 

They may have good 'feet', a smooth shell and an exotic pastel shade with notions of lychee or violets, but this is no guarantee of flavour and the *Wow* factor. I have been seduced by too many 'Meh' (with a shrug of the shoulders) macarons that unless someone says emphatically, 'You HAVE to try the salted caramel macaron from... or you HAVEN'T lived!', I am content to admire their neat rows in pretty rainbow shades of compact perfectness while ordering a coffee éclair or something oozing chocolate.

Macaroon vs Macaron: Coconut Macaroons

Taste is such a truly individual thing that you will find for anything you are cooking there are an infinite number of variations out there. Only through trial and largely delicious error will you find out which one becomes your never fail, go to recipe. Coconut macaroons are no exception, they can be chewy, "meringuey", with a glacé cherry, dipped in chocolate, with desiccated coconut or moist shredded coconut … you may end up with several recipes that are just right depending on what mood you are in.

 

Macaroon vs Macaron: Moroccan Almond Macaroons



In recent years the French 'Macaron' has become so popular and all pervasive that the 'Macaroons' of the rest of the world have taken a back seat. While it may seem like semantics to debate Macaron vs Macaroons - there is a difference (for which we should rejoice in all their delicious variety). They all have in common the base of egg whites with icing sugar but after that they diverge into an array of widely varying flavour and texture... so please, let's call a Macaron a Macaron, and a Macaroon a Macaroon and enjoy them all.

 

Morocco has two versions of the Macaroon, one is an almond based thin chewy biscuit, often with a whole almond on the top while the other is still almond based and chewy but is more dense with a hint of cinnamon, and usually lemon zest and rose water. For me, this second version is a wonderful representation in bite sized pieces of some of the influences evident in Moroccan culture and cuisine through centuries of diverse colonisation. Amongst the colonizers there were the Arabs who brought spices to the table, while the Moors cultivated citrus and the French shared their love of sweet pastries and biscuits.

Peanut Butter: Biscuits

It's that time of year when everyone wants to catch up, it HAS to be before Christmas and you end up rushing around, bringing plates to gatherings or entertaining people at home when all you really want to do is collapse in a heap on the couch and eat sugary buttery food!

Peanut Butter biscuits can combine these facets of pre-Christmas frenzy as not only do they taste delicious, the dough keeps really well in the freezer so you can have it on hand to whip up a batch of bikkies whether you need to entertain or just satisfy your sugar and butter cravings! Even better, if you did make the PB ice cream and on the off chance you didn't finish it all in one go, you can slather the ice cream on the still warm biscuits for the ultimate PB ice cream sandwich of joy (scroll down to the end to see the photo)!