CHOCOLATE YULE LOG

CHOCOLATE YULE LOG

Ingredients
5 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar, divided
...

1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
MOCHA CREAM FILLING:
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
MOCHA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup baking cocoa
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon brewed coffee
2 tablespoons milk

Directions
1. Line a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan with parchment paper; grease the paper. Place egg whites in a small mixing bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks on high until light and fluffy. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, beating until thick and lemon-colored. Combine flour, cocoa and salt; gradually add to egg yolk mixture until blended.
2. Beat egg whites on medium until foamy. Add cream of tartar; beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining sugar, beating on high until stiff peaks form. Stir a fourth into chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining egg whites until no streaks remain.
3. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until cake springs back (do not overbake). Cool for 5 minutes; invert onto a linen towel dusted with confectioners' sugar. Peel off parchment paper. Roll up in the towel, starting with a short side. Cool on a wire rack. In a mixing bowl, beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add sugar and coffee granules. Beat until stiff peaks form; chill. Unroll cooled cake; spread filling to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up again. Place on serving platter; chill.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat frosting ingredients until smooth. Frost cake. Using a fork, make lines resembling tree bark.

Zucchini, PHILLY Cream Cheese and Beef Patties

Ingredients

• 1 large or 2 small zucchini (200g), coarsely grated
• 500g beef mince
• 1 small onion, grated
• 2 tablespoons chopped dill or parsley
• 125g PHILADELPHIA Block Cream Cheese, grated
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Method

PAT zucchini with paper towel to remove excess moisture. Combine with mince, onion, dill, PHILLY Block Cream Cheese, eggs and flour in a bowl. Season to taste and then shape into 8-12 patties (depending on the size you like).
HEAT oil in a frypan on medium heat and cook patties for 4 minutes each side, until golden brown and cooked through. Serve with something hearty in the winter months, like creamy mashed potatoes and lemon wedges.

Here’s a nice way of adding creamy moisture to mince patties – and a great way of getting kids to eat vegetables. The PHILLY Cream Cheese gives the patties a lovely moistness.

White Chocolate & Strawberry Marquise

Ingredients

• 12-16 small sponge fingers
• ¼ cup (60ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
• 300g white chocolate, roughly chopped
• 250ml PHILADELPHIA Cream for Desserts, a double cream alternative
• 25g unsalted butter
• 500g strawberries
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar mixture

Method

LINE a 1.2 litre loaf pan with a double layer of plastic wrap allowing it to overhang the edges. Arrange rows of sponge fingers width ways across base. Sprinkle evenly with 2 tablespoons orange juice.
COMBINE chocolate, PHILLY Cream for Desserts and butter in a heatproof bowl and microwave on medium for 1½-2 minutes, gently stirring halfway through, until melted. Cool 5 minutes. Select 8-10 even-sized strawberries and set aside. Spoon half of the chocolate mixture into pan, then put selected strawberries down centre of pan, pressing down gently. Spoon over the remaining chocolate mixture and smooth the top. Arrange remaining sponge fingers width ways across the top. Fold overhanging plastic wrap over marquise. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours, preferably 2 days, until set.
ROUGHLY chop remaining strawberries and put in food processor with icing sugar and remaining orange juice. Process until smooth, then chill until needed.
TO serve, unmould marquise and cut into thick slices. Serve with strawberry sauce.

Even with its time-honoured simple flavours, strawberries and cream, this looks fancy as if you’ve been cooking for hours, but in fact it’s a breeze to make.

Vegetable and Sourdough Strata

Ingredients

• 30g butter
• 1 red capsicum, cut into 2cm pieces
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 100g baby spinach
• ¼ cup roughly chopped basil
• ¼ cup roughly chopped parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 5 slices sourdough bread, each cut into 9 squares
• 125g PHILADELPHIA Block Cream Cheese, cut into 1cm  cubes
• 5 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ½ cup grated tasty cheese

Method

• MELT the butter in a large frypan and sauté the capsicum and onion for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, stir through herbs and season.
• ARRANGE half the bread in the base of a greased 2 litre baking dish. Top with vegetable mixture and the PHILLY. Cover with remaining bread.
• BEAT together the eggs, milk and mustard, then pour over bread. Top with cheese and bake in a moderate oven 180 deg C for 50 minutes or until set. Stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Twice-baked Cheese Souffles

Ingredients

• 25g butter, melted
• 400ml milk
• 1 bay leaf
• 60g butter, extra
• 1/3 cup (50g) plain flour
• 100g Gruyere cheese, grated
• 5 eggs, separated
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 100g PHILADELPHIA Block Cream Cheese, diced
• 50g gruyere cheese, extra, diced
• 250ml PHILADELPHIA Original Cream for Cooking, a cream alternative

Method

PREHEAT oven to 190C or 170C fan. Brush the insides of 8 x ½cup capacity ramekins with melted butter. Place milk in a small saucepan with bay leaf and bring to a simmer on low heat. Remove from heat, cover and stand to infuse for 10 minutes. Then discard bay leaf.
MELT the extra butter in a small saucepan on low heat and stir in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute, until lightly coloured. Remove from heat, add milk and stir or whisk together. Return to medium heat and stir constantly until thickened and boiling. Reduce heat to low and stir for another 5 minutes until very thick. Remove from heat, beat in 50g of grated gruyere cheese and egg yolks and season to taste.
WHISK egg whites with an electric mixer until just stiff. Fold into the cheese sauce and then fold through diced PHILLY Block Cream Cheese and diced Gruyere cheese. Fill prepared ramekins with soufflé mixture and level top with the back of a knife. Wipe rims if necessary to clean, and place ramekins in a baking dish with enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until well risen and the tops feel soft and springy. Remove from baking dish and cool completely. They sink a little but can be prepared to this stage, cooled, wrapped in plastic wrap and kept refrigerated or frozen if you like.
PREHEAT oven to 200C or 180C fan. Turn soufflés out of ramekins onto individual gratin dishes. Melt PHILADELPHIA Cream for Cooking in a small saucepan on low and stir in remaining grated gruyere cheese. Spoon over soufflés and bake for 20-25 minutes or until well risen and golden. Serve immediately.

Soufflés are delicious and if you’re armed with a good recipe, not difficult. With this souffle, the initial cooking is done in advance – and can even be frozen ahead, ready to bake when a soufflé is called for.

Tomato and Parmesan Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups self-raising flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup finely grated
• Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup semi sundried tomatoes,roughly chopped
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 125g PHILADELPHIA Spreadable Extra Light Cream Cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, extra

Method

• SIFT the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Stir through Parmesan, tomatoes, onions and garlic.
• WHISK together the PHILLY and egg then gradually whisk in milk and oil until smooth. Pour into the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
• SPOON into 6 x ¾ cup capacity greased Texas muffin pans. Sprinkle with extra Parmesan and bake in a moderately hot oven 190°C for 20–25 minutes or until cooked when tested. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before turning out of the pan. Serve warm or cold.

Toblerone Cheesecake

Ingredients

• Base
• 1 cup plain chocolate biscuit crumbs
• 80g butter, melted
• 1/4 cup ground almonds
• Filling
• 500g block PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 200g TOBLERONE* Milk or Dark Chocolate, melted
• 1/2 cup thickened cream
• Topping
• 200g TOBLERONE* Milk or Dark Chocolate for shaving

Method

• COMBINE biscuit crumbs, butter and almonds, press into the base of a lightly greased 20cm springform pan. Chill.   
• BEAT Philly and sugar using an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the melted Toblerone  and cream until well combined.
• POUR onto the prepared crumb base and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours until set, or overnight. Serve topped with the Toblerone* shavings.