Cookies

5 Lire

Ricotta Hotcakes

(buttermilk hotcakes topped with Nutella inspired semifreddo, Pariya Persian chocolate fairy floss and scattered with chocolate cacao and orange crumble)

The fairy floss reminded me of a bad toupee but I really liked it as it wasn’t overly sweet. The hotcakes themselves were average but the Nutella, the crumble and the fairy floss brought this dish up to the next level, making it overall enjoyable.

★★★☆☆

Riso con Latte

(warm creamy arborio rice topped with amaretto baked peaches and an amaretto biscuit crumble)

Warm and hearty.

★★★☆☆

Italian Style Croque Monsieur

(brioche loaf toastie spread with ‘Nduja, stracchino cheese, peppered fig jam, Lyonnaise onions and a fried egg)

Perhaps it was the combination of the ingredients or perhaps it was the ‘nduja (spreadable salami) itself, but there was a peculiar alcohol-like taste to this croque monsieur that no one was fond of.

★☆☆☆☆

Deconstructed Tiramisu Waffles

(waffle jolie topped with a whipped vanilla mascarpone, coffee jelly, crushed cookies, chocolate balls and coffee gel)

Every part of this was delicious!

★★★★☆

Overall:

Tasty food (mostly), friendly staff, and a long wait for our food to arrive (likely due to the small kitchen that they have).

5 Lire

116 Errol St, North Melbourne, VIC

(03) 9329 2249

http://www.5lire.com.au/

Reindeer Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
4 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pretzels
M&M’s (I used brown milk chocolate M&M’s for the eyes and red crispy M&M’s for the noses, but any colour/type is fine)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.

2. Combine brown sugar, peanut butter, butter, milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Add egg and mix.

3. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture and mix just until blended.

4. Form dough into 3cm balls. To make reindeer-shaped cookies, pinch the bottom of the ball slightly to form a point, then gently flatten with your hand.

5. Place cookies on a greased tray and gently press pretzels onto each cookie.

6. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until cookies begin to brown.

7. Remove from the oven and IMMEDIATELY (and gently) press M&Ms in for the eyes and an M&M for the nose.

Overall:

How cute are these cookies? They are slightly crumbly, not overly sweet, have a wonderful peanut butter flavour, and are simply perfect for Christmas.

Hot Cross Cookies

Recipe from: Donna Hay

Alterations I made were:

substituting the sultanas in the recipe for chocolate chips
using melted white chocolate for the crosses instead of icing sugar

Overall:

I’ve had a cookie craving for the past week now and finally found some time today to make these. These sweet crumbly cookies have a distinctive cinnamon taste and I feel that one teaspoon of cinnamon instead of two is plenty enough. (Note that I didn’t use a piping bag, hence the uneven crosses.)

Hope you all have a Happy Easter!