Chocolate Aussie Crunch Bars - classic teatime treat

Chocolate Australian Crunch is a classic teatime treat that uses easily available ingredients and has an unbelievably simple recipe.  A long time favourite for young and old, the recipe uses a combination of the 3 C's: cornflakes, coconut and chocolate. Read on for more!

You will need:

10 oz margarine

10 oz self raising flour

7 oz sugar
4 oz dessicated coconut

5 oz cornflakes

3-4 heaped tblspns cocoa powder (as desired)

Cooking chocolate of various flavours ( at least two)



Method

1. Crush the cornflakes by either placing them in a large bowl and crushing them by hand, or put into a large freezer bag and roll out with a rolling pin.  They should be quite well crushed but make sure not to over crush to a powder. Place them in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add all the dry ingredients to the crushed cornflakes (flour, sugar, coconut, cocoa powder) and stir in to become one mixture.
3. Melt the margarine in a seperate bowl until runny.  
4. Add the melted margarine into the dry ingredients.





5. Spread out the mixture evenly into a greased 12" x 9" baking tray, press down well into the corners of the tray using a clean spatula. Tip: Use a smaller, deeper tray if you want a thicker bite, or a wide flat tray for a thinner slice.
6. Bake in the oven at 160 C for 20-25 minutes, then remove and leave out to cool covered by a clean cloth.

Decoration

This recipe uses milk and white chocolate for the decoration.  It is entirely up to you which and how many different chocolates you want to use for the top of the Aussie Crunch.  You can reverse this recipe and put white chocolate over the top and drizzle milk chocolate, or you may use milk, white and dark chocolate for drizzling.  Be creative!

1. 
   
   Melt 150g of milk chocolate over a bowl of simmering (not boiling) water on a low heat. Tip: Instead of melting the milk chocolate, you can grate it over the top of the Aussie Crunch as soon as it comes out of the oven and spread as it melts.  Works a treat, but you do have to be quick!

    

           2.      Melt 65g of white chocolate in the same way.

Tip: leave the centre of the white chocolate bowl empty to avoid overheating.





        3.     Spread the milk chocolate evenly over the top of the Aussie Crunch once it has cooled (alternatively you can use the grating method described above). Then, using a piping bag, drizzle the white chocolate in any  pattern you choose.

        4.     Run the tip of a knife through the still wet chocolate in different directions to create a marbled effect.

    5.    Cut into pieces (square, rectangle or slices, as you prefer) before the chocolate sets completely.

Make a cup of your preferred hot drink, and enjoy!

For more recipes from the Muslimah Cooking Channel, look for us on Youtube!

Foolproof recipe for lasagna white sauce

Bechamel is the white sauce used in my lasagna recipe to soak the pasta sheets in between each layer.  There are many ways of making bechamel and it can also be purchased in a jar, but if you're reading this then you're probably the type that likes to know exactly what went into your food, instead of the processed stuff from a shelf in a supermarket. 

This is the quickest and simplest recipe there is for making the bechamel that goes into your lasagna:

You will need:



2 tblspns plain flour

1 1/2 tblspns butter/margarine

1 1/2 cups (200 ml) milk

and a saucepan





Allow the butter to melt in a saucepan over a low heat, then stir in the flour, mix and allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes.  You should be able to smell the combination of the butter and flour heating up.





Flour and butter



Simmering flour and butter mixture



Once combined, add the milk to the saucepan, allow to boil and thicken and becomes gloopy but spreadable.

Tips:

1. If the bechamel become too runny, all you need to do is add 1/2 tblspn of flour to the mix and allow to simmer until it thickens and becomes gloopy.  If required, keep adding 1/2 tblspn flour at a time until you reach the required consistency.
2. If the bechamel becomes too thick and unspreadable, add 1/2 tblspn of milk at a time, stir, simmer and allow to thicken to the required consistency.

What makes this recipe so easy is that it uses readily available ingredients and is very easy to correct if it begins to go wrong.

How to make Lasagna - Indian Style!

For this recipe, you will need:

• Small chicken pieces / Minced meat
• Chopped assorted vegetables
• One small chopped onion
• 1 spoon of salt
• 3 tablespoons of oil
• a teaspoon of cumin
• Spices (Red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, crushed green chilli, crushed ginger/garlic)
• Bechamel (white sauce: flour, butter, milk)
• Mashed potatoes
• Grated cheese
• Lasagna sheets
• OPTIONAL: garam masala

For a video recipe:



METHOD (featuring cameo appearances from the Wooden Spoon and Flat Steel Spatula a.k.a Chabetti - lol)

1. Sweat down some chopped onion in a little oil and cumin seeds. 

2. When the onion begins to turn a ginger colour, mix in all the spice powders, crushed chillies and ginger, as well as half a teaspoon of salt (adjust to taste). 
3. Add a few tablespoons of passata or blended tomatoes to make it moist.

4. Boil the chosen meat in half a teaspoon of salt and turmeric as a marinade. 
5. Once it is mostly cooked, mix the meat into the spice mixture and stir until fully combined.

6. Boil and drain mixed cubed vegetables. (Suggestions: carrots, peas, sweetcorn, swede, broccoli, green/long beans) Don't use potatoes as they will be in the mash.
7. Mix the boiled veg into the meat filling.

PREPARATION:

1. Lay down lasagna sheets in your chosen tray.  Make sure it is deep.  You might have to break the sheets into different sizes. Don't worry, as long as the majority of the bottom of the tray is covered, you'll be fine.

2. Spread a thin layer of bechamel over the sheets.  This is to soak the sheets and ensure they will be cooked and soft like pasta.



3. Spread the first layer of the meat filling over the top of the bechamel.  Use 1/2 of the entire filling, the other 1/2 will be needed for the second layer.

4. Now repeat the whole process: place lasagna sheets on top of the meat, then spread bechamel over the top and spread the remaining meat filling on top of that.




 

5. Now layer for the third time lasagna sheets and bechamel.  It is now time for the mash and cheese.
6. Spread a thin layer of mashed potatoes over the top of the bechamel.  Be careful not to let the mash layer get too thick as this will overpower the spices.
7. Grate cheese over the top of the mash.  Regular cheddar cheese will do just fine.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour at Gas Mark 4.  Once cooked, it will look brown at the edges, the cheese will be all cooked.  Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, cut into slices or squares of preferred size and enjoy!

Welcome to the Muslimah Cooking Channel

Hello everybody, just wanted to take a moment to welcome you all to my blog.  If you are looking for simple and easy to follow recipe guides, instructions and video then you are in the right place!

Recipes coming up: Indian twist to the classic Italian Lasagna, Aussie Crunch, ChocNut Magic Bars, Banoffee Pie, Chocolate Brownies, Spicy Chicken Nugget sticks, Chicken and Sweetcorn Pasta and much more!