Competitions

Your Chance to Win a Ferrero Easter Gift Box

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011


The post was sponsored by Ferrero.

The ANZAC Day and Easter long weekend are just around the corner. For me, this weekend will involve spending time with friends and family, working in the garden and picking which roses I’d like to plant, cooking of course (choc chip hot cross buns are on the list), and lastly, eating chocolate Easter eggs!!! Oh and might I add, I hope to relax a little too 🙂 Hopefully I will get a chance to read everyone’s blogs which I have been unfortunately missing out on recently.

Being so close to Easter, I was sent some of Ferrero’s new Ferrero Eggs to try, and even better, the chance for one of my readers to win a Ferrero Easter Gift Box. I was happy to see my favourite feature of the Ferrero Rocher chocolates were included in the Ferrero Eggs – the creamy hazelnut filling, which was surrounded by wafer and milk chocolate.

The Ferrero Easter Gift Box and many other Gift boxes can be purchased on the Ferrero Boutique website.

There are three prizes to be won – the Ferrero Easter Gift Box featuring a packet of 10 Ferrero Eggs together with the Ferrero Collection Bunny, Rocher Egg Gift Box and a box of Ferrero Rocher and Ferrero Rondnoir, all wrapped in a beautiful brown gift box, and two packs of Ferrero Eggs for the second and third prize.

For your chance to win one of these prizes, please answer the following question as a comment below:

What is your favourite treat to make or buy over the Easter break?

The competition will end at 5pm Tuesday 26th April 2011. The winners will be chosen by myself and Ferrero and notified by email for their address. The prize will only be sent within Australia.

Chocolate Hazelnut Tart + Win a Ferrero Hamper

Thursday, November 25th, 2010

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang.

As soon as you know it, the end of the year is almost here, with it bringing Christmas holidays and New Years. I loved last year’s holiday season, I had a bit of time off and ate lots of great food with my family. I never got around to posting the huge amounts of food we ate, although you might remember I did post about the chocolate swirl croquembouche.

I have no idea what I could make this year to come close to the croquembouche – except for maybe making a smaller one (as we didn’t get through the large one I made). It is a favourite dish of mine and my families. Although, perhaps I should make something with chocolate…

There aren’t too many things that work quite as well as chocolate and hazelnut, which inspired along with Ferrero products to make this chocolate and hazelnut tart.

Ferrero have just launched a new website, Ferrero Boutique, which showcases their different hampers available in time for Christmas.

Ferrero Gourmet Christmas Hamper by Tobie Puttock - Image from Ferrero

One of interest is the Ferrero Gourmet Christmas Hamper by Tobie Puttock, which includes Ferrero Panettone & Torrone, Ferrero Rondnoir and Rochers. Tobie uses the Panettone in his recipe: Grilled Peaches with Caramelised Panettone recipe from his latest cookbook, Cook Like An Italian and is also available on the Ferrero Boutique site. This hamper along with the others on the website are limited in number though, with 500 originally being available, although this number has already decreased. $5 from each hamper also will be donated to OzHarvest, which exists to rescue excess food which would otherwise be discarded, and distribute it to charities supporting the vulnerable in Australia.

Ferrero Gourmet Christmas Hamper by Tobie Puttock - Image from Ferrero

Ferrero are giving away two Ferrero Gourmet Christmas Hampers by Tobie Puttock Ferrero worth $75 each! Two lucky readers (from my site or these two blogs: The Food Pornographer and Here comes the Food) could win one of these fabulous hampers. All you have to do is answer the following question in a comment below:

What is your favourite Christmas recipe and/or how do you celebrate the holiday season?

Ferrero will choose the most creative responses from all three sites, to give a hamper to. The competition finishes on Friday 10th December 2010 at 5pm. Winners will be notified by email. Please see here for Terms and Conditions.

Chocolate Hazelnut Tart

Recipe by Anita @ Leave Room for Dessert

Serves: 16

Recipe best made the day before (or a few days before serving)

Hazelnut Pastry
200g plain flour
40g hazelnut meal
40g icing sugar
120g butter, chilled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 egg yolk + 1 teaspoon of egg white or water, if required

Toffee layer (optional)
100g caster sugar

Chocolate Hazelnut Filling
250g Nutella
220g milk chocolate, chopped
50g dark chocolate, chopped
300ml thickened cream

80g caster sugar
50g water
8-10 hazelnuts (or more for practicing)
8 Ferrero Rocher chocolates

For the pastry, process the flour, hazelnut meal and icing sugar in a food processor. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and process until just combined. If it is not coming together, add a teaspoon of egg white or cold water at a time until it is just combined. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a disk. Cover the disk and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Roll out the pastry to 3mm, or enough to line a 22-25cm (diameter) round fluted tart tin. Line the tin with the pastry, making sure to press the pastry into the sides. Remove excess by rolling a rolling pin over the top of the tin, or by hand – smoothing any edges if needed. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven at 180C.

For the toffee layer, place the sugar in a small saucepan and place on high (or medium high). Once the sugar starts to caramelise on the outer edges, slowly mix in small amounts of the unmelted sugar, until it is all caramelised. Pour onto a sheet of baking paper. Once cooled, process in a small food processor.

Place a sheet of baking paper over the pastry lined tart and fill with pastry weights or uncooked rice. Place in the oven for 10 minutes, then remove the weights and baking paper and return the tart shell to the oven and cook for approximately 5 minutes until the bottom of the tart has started to brown. Place the processed toffee over the bottom of the tart shell and place back in the oven for 3 minutes or until the toffee has melted into a even layer. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

For the filling. Place the Nutella and chopped chocolates into a large bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it just starts to bubble. Pour the cream over the chocolate and Nutella and stir gently until it forms a smooth mixture. Pour the mixture into the tart shell. If there are some bubbles present, you can carefully use a creme brulee torch to remove them. Refrigerate overnight.

The hazelnut corkscrews need to be made as close to serving as possible. To make these, roast the hazelnuts in a 180C oven for 5-10 minutes, until they are roasted and the skins start to come off. Remove from oven and place onto a clean tea towel. Rub the hazelnuts through the towel to remove the brown skins. Place a tooth pick into the base of each hazelnut.

Heat the sugar and water in a very small saucepan over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. (I used a 10-15cm based saucepan, if you are using a larger one, you may need to increase your toffee ingredients to allow for a higher toffee level to allow easier dipping of the hazelnuts). Once the sugar is dissolved, place the mixture on high and cook, without stirring until the toffee turns a caramel colour. Place the bottom half of the saucepan into a sink filled with cold or tap water – this will stop the toffee from becoming too dark. Mix the toffee with a spoon and test the consistency of the toffee by trying to slowly spin the toffee around a clean knife steel. (Hold the steel in your left hand and rotate the spoon with toffee clockwise around the steel until a corkscrew is made).

Once it is at the right consistency, dip a hazelnut into toffee and make a corkscrew at the end of it. It is easiest if you can get someone to help you with this, as they can remove the corkscrew while you hold the hazelnut (as the toffee on the hazelnut doesn’t solidify as quickly as the thin corkscrew). If you don’t have a second pair of hands, place the hazelnut onto a piece of baking paper and slowly remove the corkscrew from the steel.

Place the Ferrero Rochers and caramel hazelnuts over the tart and serve with vanilla ice cream.

2009 Roundup, 101st post and Win a Cupcake Cookbook

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Here is a roundup of some of my favourite recipes for 2009, I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. Plus – this is my 101st post.

I’m looking forward to what 2010 will hold for me, my cooking and for everyone else. Happy New Year everyone!

P.S. Look at the bottom of this page for your chance to win a cookbook!

Chocolate Swirl Croquembouche
ChocSwirlCroquembouche13

Crouquembouche
croquembouche11

Strawberry and Cream with White Chocolate Sponge and Ice Cream
StrawberryCreamMasterChef08

Triple Chocolate Praline Tart
triplechocolatepralinetart05

Baci Gelato
bacigelato05


Chocolate Delice

ChocolateDelice43

Gingerbread House
GingerbreadHouse31


Choc Chip Friands with Cinnamon and Almonds

friands

Portuguese Custard Tarts
Portuguese_Custard_Tarts

Strawberry Roulade with Lemon Cream
roulade1

Choc Chip Hot Cross Buns
cchcb2

Pear and Raspberry Bread
pearraspberrybread2

White Chocolate and Hazelnut Mud Cake
WhiteChocHazelnut10

White Chocolate and Honeycomb Mud Cake
whitechochoneycomb08

Toblerone Cocktail
TobleroneCocktail13

Beef Wellington
beef_wellington

Beef Korma
beefkorma04

Naan Bread
naanbread031

Mushroom and Cheese Strudel
mushroomcheesestrudel01

Fajitas and Tortilla’s
fajhitastortillas10

Spanakopita
Spanakopita08

Did you like them? There are many more, just go to my Recipes page to see what recipes are available.

I decided I should offer a prize for my lovely readers in celebration of my 101st post. After receiving a copy of Hello, Cupcake! as a birthday present, and seeing what cute creations can be made to decorate cupcakes, I decided this would be a great prize for someone. (1 prize available)

cupcakecookbook3

All you need to do to win, is write a comment below (to this post) answering the following question:

If you were to hold a themed party, what theme would you choose and how would you decorate and/or flavour your cupcakes to match the theme?

You may enter once daily (as long as your answer is different), and the competition ends on January 27th 2010 at 5pm AEST, with the winner being announced 30th January 2010. (Please make sure you use a valid email address, as this is how I will contact you).

** Please note: This competition is now closed. The winner has now been chosen: Katherine Ryan with cocktail party inspired cupcakes – see below for her answer **

Please note: This is not a sponsored competition, I will be buying from an online book store that says it ships worldwide – so this competition is open for everyone! (So tell your family and friends).

Happy New Year again everyone!
Anita