Aussie Chef Emma

Everyone can cook, you just need the right recipe! Come along with me on a journey to share my love of simple cooking with you. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram @aussiechefemma

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Included in your subscription is access to each one of my recipe's nutrition panels! Click the link above to go to my website and check it out for yourself!

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Did you hear the awesome news? I have gone through and rejigged my website a bit! As well as now having nutrition panel guides, and individual recipes available to purchase - I've made my (mouthwatering) cinnamon & banana bread recipe completely FREE!

Head on over to my website to download your copy now!!

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Australian Café

Despite not losing any love over coffee myself, I seem to have picked up quite a bit about the different ways to consume it. Long gone are the days when everyone only had a couple of options. Instead of being asked “Black or white? With or without sugar?”, ordering a drink at a café almost feels like an interrogation!

To make it easier on yourself and the hospitality staff (who also don’t like the amount of questions they are forced to ask) do everyone a favour by figuring out exactly what you want before getting to the counter.

Step One: Size

Easy, right? Wrong! Every café has different sized coffee cups, with different names, and different prices. Typically, there’ll be three sizes along the lines of small, medium, and large. However, this is sometimes changed up for regular, large, and jumbo, or any combination of the above. Another fun fact is that despite using the glorious metric system for everything else - suppliers advertise their takeaway cups in terms of ounces (oz) - so please forgive me following their example:

6oz to 8oz - small/regular - one shot of coffee

10oz to 12oz - medium/regular/large - two shots of coffee

16oz - large/jumbo - 3 shots of coffee 

This isn’t even counting sizes for milkshakes and other cold drinks, though typically they will be around 16oz, you need to check whatever display the café has.

Step Two: Type of Beverage

This step is slightly easier. Decide if you’d like a hot or cold beverage, and if you want coffee in that beverage! For the purposes of this, we’ll say you decided to have a hot coffee - there’s so many options to choose from:

Ristretto - the first 10-15ml of a shot of coffee

Espresso/Short Black - one full shot of coffee

Macchiato - an espresso shot with a small dash of hot, frothy milk

Piccolo - a ristretto shot topped up with hot, frothy milk (basically a tiny latte)

Long Black - hot water topped with coffee (usually two shots)

Flat White - espresso topped with hot milk (little to no froth)

Latte - espresso topped with hot, frothy milk (medium froth)

Mocha - latte with a spoonful of chocolate mixed with the coffee, topped with chocolate powder

Dirty Chai - chai latte with a coffee shot, often topped with cinnamon/chai powder

Cappuccino - espresso with hot, frothy milk (very frothy), topped with chocolate powder

Step Three: Milk

You can skip right on down to the next step if you want a black coffee! If not, strap in…

There are many different kinds of milk nowadays. There’s the classic cows milk (either full cream, skim, or light), soy, almond, oat, and the list goes on. Some hip cafés may also stock coconut or macadamia milk too.

Personally, my go to is full cream milk in my hot chocolates - but I’ve had almond milk on occasion which brings out the nuttiness, and I have a friend who swears by oat milk. I have also enjoyed soy milk in chai lattes to mellow out the flavour.  

I can’t recommend any milks to go with coffee, but baristas are usually pretty happy to talk about the pros and cons of different ones (if there’s not a massive line behind you at least).

Step Four (optional): Additives

Sweet syrupy sweeteners. Say that five times really fast. 

To round out the coffee ordering experience is ordering any additives to the drink. Whether it be sugar, an artificial sweetener (like equal or stevia), or a syrup - there’s something for most people at a café. The most popular syrups you’ll find in Australian cafés are vanilla, caramel, and hazelnut. There are plenty of other syrups and additives around too.

So now when you’re asked what coffee you want to order at a café, run through these steps to make it easier on yourself and your overworked barista. The most important thing to remember is that every café is different, but they will have a sign, board, or display letting you know what sizes, prices, milks, and additives they have to sell.

Be kind to hospitality workers, and be safe when sipping hot drinks!

Chef Emma

P.S. Buy my Barista At A Glance Cheat Sheet here for just AUD$2!

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Become a barista at a glance with my new downloadable cheat sheet. Available for less than half the price of a coffee, this sheet is perfect for budding baristas or impressing your friends!

https://purelyesprit.com/our-products

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To Eat or Not To Eat - Fresh Meat Edition

How do you tell if that meat in the bottom of the fridge is still alright to eat? 

As a general rule, you shouldn’t keep meat longer than 4 days in the fridge. Though if it has been cured, smoked, or sealed using a cryovac or similar, the meat can last longer. 

If in doubt, throw it out!

The easiest way to check is to use the use by or best before date on the packaging. If that’s not an option - use the following steps:

Temperature/storage

Meat should be kept in a sealed container to prevent cross contamination. Most meat should be stored between 1°C and 4°C, although seafood should be stored over ice and as close to 1°C as possible. If meat has been kept at a higher temperature than this (e.g. left on the bench for 45 minutes), it must be cooked within 4 hours to minimise bacteria growth.

Sight/look

If there is any mould or spots, do not eat the meat. If the colour of the meat has drastically changed from when you purchased it, err on the side of caution.

Smell

Meat will typically have a mild and fresh smell, although seafood can have a stronger smell. Unless the smell of meat is already offputting to you - an offputting smell is a good way to tell meat is off. If it starts to smell sickly sweet, or sour that’s also a bad sign.

Touch/feel

Meat that’s good to eat will be slightly moist and (usually) firm. It should not feel sticky, slimy or really wet. 

Your senses are the second best way to help you decide to eat or not to eat the meat. If it looks, smells, or feels bad - don’t eat it. 

Have fun with your newfound knowledge, and stay safe in the kitchen!

Chef Emma

P.S. If you haven’t already - check out the cool experiment on how to check the freshness of your eggs here!

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White Chocolate Christmas Crack

Have you seen this crack going around lately? Here’s my spin on another 3 part Christmas dessert! You need:

Crackers

Homemade caramel

White chocolate

To get in the festive spirit, I added some sprinkles to the top of mine, and a lot of recipes say to add cracked salt too! This is super easy for you to customise - you can use any chocolate! I’ve tried milk and white and they both turned out great!

Time: Prep - 20 Minutes, Cooling - 1 Hour

Makes: Whole Tray (Approx 30cm x 24cm)

Keeps: 3 Days Refrigerated

Ingredients:

75g - Sugar (I used white caster sugar, some recipes call for brown sugar)

75g - Butter (I haven’t tried to use a butter substitute to make the caramel yet, but it’s possible)

Enough to cover the bottom of the tin - Salada or Sao Crackers

1 Block (~180g) - White Chocolate

(Optional topping) Sprinkles

(Optional topping) Salt

Method:

Gather ingredients, pre-heat the oven to 180°C, line a baking tray (with a slightly higher edge) with baking paper

On top of the baking paper, put one layer of the crackers to cover the bottom of the tin

Weigh the butter and sugar into a small pot and put on a low heat

Once bubbles start to form, stir the caramel with a heatproof spatula for 5 minutes (set a timer) - if the caramel starts to burn, turn down the heat

Once the five minutes have passed, remove the caramel from the heat and pour over the crackers - smooth it evenly with the spatula

Put the tray in the oven for about 5 minutes so the caramel heats up again and sticks to the crackers

Carefully bring the tray out of the oven and break the chocolate into pieces before distributing it over the caramel - use the spatula to evenly spread the chocolate

Sprinkle any toppings on while the chocolate is still warm, allow the crack to cool a bit before covering and placing in the fridge for at least an hour to harden

Clean up your workspace

Take it out of the fridge, break it into pieces, and enjoy!

Have fun with your new recipe, and stay safe in the kitchen!

Chef Emma

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Individual Christmas Trifles

Who doesn’t love a good Christmas Trifle? This cool dessert is based on a trifle with only three parts:

Green cake

Red jelly

White Cream

If you’re feeling fancy, you can add sprinkles or fresh fruit. Simply follow along to make my fun Christmas inspired dessert!

Time: Prep - 2-3 Hours, Assembly - 5-10 Minutes

Makes: 6 of the serving above

Keeps: 3 Days Refrigerated

Ingredients:

1 packet - Vanilla/butter cake mix

Ingredients that cake mix requires (usually milk, eggs, butter)

6 drops - Green food colouring

1 packet - Red jelly (I use raspberry, but any could do!)

300ml - Thickened cream

Vanilla

Icing sugar

(Optional topping) Sprinkles

(Optional topping) Fresh fruit

Method:

Gather ingredients, pre-heat the oven (per packet instructions) and boil the kettle

Make the jelly according to instructions on the packet (pour jelly crystals into 250ml of boiling water, stir, add 200ml of cool water) and set in a flat(ish) container for a minimum of 2 hours

While the jelly is setting, make the cake mix according to the instructions on the packet - make sure you add the green dye! Bake in the recommended container for the recommended time.

While the cake is cooking, make up the whipped cream using the thickened cream, vanilla, and icing sugar. Whisk until soft peaks form

Store the whipped cream in the fridge until everything is ready to be put together

Once the cake is cool, cut it into small cubes, then store in the refrigerator

Start to clean up your workspace

Once the jelly is set, run the tip of a knife through the jelly to make small cubes

Gather all the prepared components and the six glasses/containers, and start to thinly layer the components together

Top with sprinkles or fresh fruit

Enjoy!

Have fun with your new recipe, and stay safe in the kitchen!

Chef Emma

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To Eat or Not to Eat - Egg Edition

The horrific smell of cracking open a rotten egg is not the only way to tell if an egg has gone bad!

Whether you have chickens at home or unpacked your eggs into the fridge without taking note of the “best before” date on the packaging - there’s no reason to panic. To check the freshness of the eggs you will need three simple things:

The egg/s to test

A glass or container big enough to hold the egg, with enough height for the egg to float

Water

The method is equally as simple (example pictures are below)

Fill your container with water, leaving space for the water displacement to occur

Gently place the egg into the container

If it sinks, it’s good to eat! If the egg floats it has gone bad.

[Pictured: Fresh egg sunk to the bottom of the glass on the left, Rotten egg floating to the top of the glass on the right]

This trick for determining how fresh an egg is has been around for ages. I’ve been using this method for as long as I can remember. Apparently as the egg goes bad it releases gasses which cause it to float in the water.

Have fun with your newfound knowledge, and stay safe in the kitchen!

Chef Emma