Prahran Market, and My (Current) Product List

Gingersnaps

I have news.

This Sunday, if you happen to be in Melbourne, come see us between 10am-3pm at the Prahran market. In truth, this is our second week. We started last Sunday, and why did I not announce it on the blog? For the simple reason that I was not willing to let people who know me from my blog see me cower under the table while James does all the selling/interaction with customers. No, really. I was really going to do it.

Pistachio, almond and rosemary biscotti

Banana and peanut butter cookies

I think I have been pretty realistic with my expectations on this little venture; I expected it to be labour intensive and stressful. I know not to expect to make a tidy profit for at least the first few months. But what I didn't expect was how vulnerable I felt, having my ideas, my hard work, my creations displayed and scrutinised by possibly everyone who walks past my stall. It has made me feel a bit guilty for charging above-market prices for a packet of cookies, but I am fortunate to have James----someone who is not too personally involved in the products to help sell them---- and for me to be able to gather together just enough faith in the quality of my products, and the amount of work that I put into recipe development, packaging, labeling etc. to be able to justify the prices. After all, what I charge isn't a secret---the price list is out and open on the blackboard on the stall table, so if people have a problem with it, they can just choose to walk away.

Seville Marmalade Thumbprints

Classic chocolate chip

I love what I do now---but the question is whether or not I will be able to keep that feeling up in the long run---when demands (hopefully) grow, and the repetitive nature of this business finally caught on to me. But I guess this is where I am in the position, as owner of the business, to make things interesting and challenging for myself. I haven't talked much about my ideas for the business in this space, but one of my main focus is to use seasonal ingredients to develop and create artisan-quality products. This would mean that I would not have a set product catalogue for a period of more than six months at the most, which also would mean that I have to perpetually find new ways to successfully incorporate seasonal produce into my recipes. Sounds far-fetched? Maybe, maybe not. I don't know if this would work, but seeing that I have nothing to lose at this point, I'm ready to give it my all.

I promise that I'll tell you more about the business in the coming weeks, or whenever I can scrape around enough time to blog. In the meantime, I've been working pretty much non-stop since 9am this morning (it's 1215 am now), so I can't wait until my head hits the pillow as soon as I finish this.

I'll see you there?

Happy Easter!!

I wanted to make something different for Easter this year. Not that I remembered making anything last year, or even the year before. Growing up in the tropics mean that Easter has never been such a big deal. Sure, I remember my first Easter egg hunt---Sunday school, quite a lot of years back. But no, they did not hide the eggs in the garden or anything like that. The Sunday School teachers (do you guys call them that?) merely hid them in different parts of the classroom. Not much fun. We were told beforehand that we could only take one egg each, that no one is to take two. And I guess I was never the fastest, or the most eager kid in the room. Instead of searching high and low, like other kids, I just went up to a boy who had found two, and were holding them in his hands, and said, "Can I have one of your Easter eggs? You can't take two."


I did not remember whether he said yes or no--he might have been too stunned by my forward-ness (read: aggression)-- but I ended up going home with my first chocolate Easter egg anyway. I think I might have just taken it out of his hand without waiting for him to respond first. Hm.

Unlike the rest of the world, us folks in the Southern Hemisphere do not herald Easter as the beginning of Spring and the coming of better weather. I have to say that this Easter has been the warmest so far, but I know the warm days are numbered, so I decided to put an extra dose of spice to give these cookies some much-needed comfort. I also chose to use a combination of sultanas and raisins because, well, I just happened to have them lying around in my pantry.


Hot cross cookies
(adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Cookies book)

125g butter, softened
150g caster sugar
1 egg
120g of a mixture of sultanas and raisins
300g self-raising flour
3tsp mixed spice
2tsp milk
apricot jam, for glazing

royal icing
1/2 egg white
125g icing sugar

Beat butter and sugar together in a bowl of an electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, add the egg, and stir in the sultanas and raisins. Sift flour and spice together over the mixture, and add the milk. Mix until it just comes together. Weigh 15g of dough, and roll into a ball. Place on lined baking sheet, and flatten slightly. Repeat until all the dough is used up. Leave about 5 cm space in between each cookie, because they will expand in size when baking. Bake at 160 degree Celsius for 15 minutes, or until light golden. Allow to cool.

To make royal icing, sift icing sugar into a bowl. Whisk egg white until foamy, and beat in icing sugar in 4 additions. Continue whisking until mixture is thick. To achieve piping consistency, water it down with one tablespoon of water. You may have to adjust the amount of water required. If the royal icing feels a bit stiff to be piped, feel free to add more water. With a paper cornet or a piping bag with a very small round tip ( I used a decorator's tip, because they are generally made for finer work), pipe crosses on top of the cookies. Leave overnight to set.

Heat apricot jam in a saucepan, strain, and brush jam on the cookies.