Pouring custard - light and simple

Ingredients

300 - 350 ml / 1 mug milk (cows light/soy)
1 egg
2 tsp sugar or more according to taste
1 tsp cornflour

Method

1. In a clean, room temp saucepan, pour milk in. Using the smallest gas top, use high heat to slowly warm milk. On a medium gas top, use medium - low heat. Aim is to slowly warm milk, rather than to scald milk quickly. Give milk a quick whisk very so often to make sure milks not burning.

2. Mean while, crack egg into bowl, add sugar and whisk as much as possible. Until frothy would be ideal.

3. When milk is starting to froth up/ small light bubbles on whisking, pour 2tb - 1/4 cup into egg mixture to temper the egg. Return pan to flame whilst quickly whisking egg mixture.

4. Pour the tempered egg mixture in with the rest of the milk in the pan. Keep on low/med heat. Aim is to heat slowly. Continuously whisk to ensure smoothness of sauce. Custard will thicken slightly. If happy with thickness turn off heat and pour out into a bowl immediately to stop it from getting thicker.

5. If need a thicker custard, take 1 tsp cornflour and mix with 1 tb water. Mix to to dissolve corn flour into a solution. Add to custard whilst still on gas flame, whisking the sauce whilst adding in. Corn flour will thicken sauces only in presence of heat. Do not add corn flour directly to hot liquid/sauce. Repeat with more cornflour if want it thicker. When ready, turn off heat and pour out into a bowl immediately to stop it from getting thicker.

Traffic light cookies

Traffic Light Cookies (White choc dipped coconut cookies)

Did these for the lovely students "LV" who've both just finished up for their final year placement at my work for uni.

Basically they're white choc dipped cookies (coconut cookies), where the white choc has been dyed the colours of a traffic light

They did this fantastic project for our organisation - all the groundwork for a nutrition policy. The policy is based on the traffic light system, ranking how frequently foods should be chosen for catered events at our organisation (with reference to health /nutrition)... Hence these traffic light cookies to wish them well on their way as new graduates.

Now, one of them really loves white choc. The other doesn't really like sweet things (and also can't tell the difference between a zucchini and cucumber... But thats beside the point. I do hope she does now after her placement though.)

So, I tried to compromise and only dip half the cookie in the sweet, white choc instead of dipping the whole cookie in chocolate... Although, at the end of the day, the cookie is still sweet. Life isn't perfect I guess. Maybe I should've brainstormed something hat involved white choc and zucchini or cucumber. Choc-dipped cucumber stick, anyone?


So, in the picture, top left corner was the trial run. Lucky I did it, it was too pale and choc didn't quite set until in fridge. Had a bit of difficulty getting them to be half dipped in a straight line, didn't foresee that the bulge on the cookie top would be such a problem. Definitely need a container/ bowl that's also quite deep but narrow so to not make excess melted choc (of any particular colour) that would be left over after the whole process too.

What I did

~40 Nestlé white choc melts.
1 tb extra virgin olive oil
Microwave on high for 1 min. Stir. Microwave again for 40 sec. Stir until all choc drops completely melted.
Poor ~ 50 ml to 3 different containers. Used a few small/nut boxes/ Decor Tupperware containers this time.
+ 2 drops colouring, of each colour
Dip cookies in the chocolate, let the choc drip off excess choc 
Lay on baking sheet that sitting on a baking tray (that was actually upside down).
Put whole tray into fridge for chocolate to set .
Distribute to zip lock bags and give away!!

So, the recipe on the pack does say use butter, but I don't keep butter in my pantry. Olive oil, which I use regularly was gonna be the only fat/oil option.

There is a slight lingering of the olive oil taste which makes the cookie a bit strange as an overall food. Shame. I guess it'll be no short cuts and will be using butter next time.

Traffic light cookies, packed, in the fridge and ready to give away