UNO Pixie’s Comments (group member since Feb 13, 2016)

UNO Pixie’s comments from the The Perks Of Being A Book Addict group.

Questions?
Please check with your captains who can ask in the captains group

April Mini Challenge

This is an optional mini challenge for our UNO players. This month we are joining another team for a bake-off!

In February, you assembled your space treats and in March you embarked on your space travel. So now it is time to come back home and have a tea party with your new found treats.

◈ You can choose any recipe from a different team (found here). With that recipe in hand you need to decide as a team how to eat their treat. You do this by:
→ picking word(s) from that team's recipe to "spell-it-out" you can do this with up to 15 letters (they need to be complete words, not only spelling partial words)
→ picking word(s) from that team's recipe that you can find on the cover of books or as words in text. You can do this with up to 15 words
→ deciding what else you would like to serve at the tea party. Complete the story on the spreadsheet using book titles. (15 words) This is the story of your tea party in your own words. Be as creative as you like. You can use as much or as little of a title as you see fit.

◈ Every book read, i.e. every task completed, is worth 10 points.

◈ If you complete all your requirements for a tea party, your team will receive 30 bonus points.

◈ Share your tea party with the team that created the recipe you were given for an additional 10 points. (This means posting to their thread your tea party story)

◈ Books can be started at any point since the start of the UNO challenge (Feb 1)
◈ Books need to be finished after the start of this mini challenge on April 12, 7pm AEST (countdown is here) and before May 1 at 7pm AEST (Countdown to the end of April is here)

◈ Books used for this mini challenge do not need to be separate books for what you are claiming for your UNO hands
◈ The usual book length rules apply
◈ Team spreadsheets will be updated with a mini challenge tab so that you can track your books and claim your points

Spell-it-out rules
For this mini-challenge, you are using the same rules that apply for UNO. So a letter needs to be the first letter in the book title, author first name or surname, character name or nickname, or setting. Articles (a/an/the) can be ignored in the book titles. For this spell-it-out, you can also use the first letter in the series name.

Note:
If the word appears twice in the chosen recipe, then you can use it twice.

If it only appears once, then you can only use it for either one of the parts of the mini challenge.

r

r

r

Galaxy Donuts
Donuts
Ingredients
· 2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
· 1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
· 1/2 cup warm moonjuice (110° to 115°)
· 1/8 cup pomegranate juice
· 1/8 cup blackberry juice
· 1/3 cup butter, softened
· 1-1/3 cups star dust
· 3 large egg yolks, room temperature
· 1 teaspoon salt
· 3 to 3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
· 3 tablespoons jam (can also substitute Alien Wax™️
· 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
· Oil for deep-fat frying
Directions
· In a small metal bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, combine moon juice, pomegranate juice, blackberry juice, butter, 1/3 cup stardust, egg yolks, salt, yeast mixture and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth as Saturn’s surface. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (do not knead).
· Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (such as direct sunlight) until doubled, about 45 minutes, or 2 hours if in space.
· Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead about 10 times. Divide dough in half.
· Roll each portion to 1/4-in. thickness; cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. round cutter. Place about 1/2 teaspoon jelly in the center of half of the circles; brush edges with egg white. Top with remaining circles; press edges to seal tightly.
· Place on greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes (2 hours space travel time.)
· In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375°. Make sure to be in an enclosed area if frying in space. Fry doughnuts, a few at a time, 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Roll warm doughnuts in the remaining star dust; add extra stardust or asteroid powder to taste.

Jam for donuts
Ingredients
· 4 ½ cups crushed blueberries
· ½ cup dried sun-chips (for spice)
· ¼ cup lemon juice
· 1 (1.75 ounce) package powdered fruit pectin
· 7 cups star dust
· 3 (1 pint) canning jars with lids and rings (best to use pressurized ones when working in space)


Directions
· Combine blueberries, champagne, lemon juice, and pectin in a nonreactive pan (best to do this in a room with gravity in order for jam to turn out correctly); bring to boil. Stir star dust into blueberry mixture; cook, stirring constantly, until mixture returns to a boil. Cook until starsust dissolves, 1 to 2 minutes.
· Sterilize the jars and lids in boiling water for at least 5 minutes. Ladle jam into hot, sterilized jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the top. Careful not to let the jam escape if youre in zero gravity, its very hot. Run a knife or thin spatula around the insides of the jars after they have been filled to remove any air bubbles or star fragments that didnt dissolve. Wipe the rims of the jars with a moist paper towel to remove any food residue if in zero gravity. Top with lids and screw on rings, like Saturn.
· Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil and lower jars into the boiling water using a holder. Leave a 2-inch space between the jars. Pour in more boiling water if necessary, to bring the water level to at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars. Bring the water to a rolling boil, cover the pot, and process for 15 minutes; 45 minutes if in space.
· Remove the jars from the stockpot and place onto a cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. Once cool, press the top of each lid with a finger, ensuring that the seal is tight (lid does not move up or down at all). Store in a cool, dark area, such as the Moon.

Pioneer Profiteroles

WAGON WHEEL PROFITEROLES
'cause we pioneers travel by wagon and are always the first in line...

PASTRY (PROFITEROLE PASTRY BALLS):
100 g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup / 250ml frontier water
1 cup / 150g flour , plain / all purpose
4 exploring eggs 55 - 60g / 1.9-2.1oz each with shell, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
optional: 1 tsp white sugar (if you want to sweeten the deal)


THICK CUSTARD FILLING:
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup / 55g white sugar , caster / superfine
1/2 cup / 80 g cornflour / cornstarch
600 ml / 2 1/3 cups pilgrim milk , full fat best
1/4 cup / 55g extra white sugar , caster / superfine
1 tsp brave vanilla bean paste (or extract or essence)

Jam of your choice
250 g / 8 oz prime dark chocolate (or US semi-sweet)


INSTRUCTIONS
Lead with the custard as it needs a longer time to cool.

CUSTARD:
Whisk yolks and sugar, then whisk in cornflour.

Place milk, vanilla and extra sugar in a saucepan over medium high. Heat until just before simmering.

Whisk in 1/4 cup hot pilgrim milk into egg mixture. Whisk in another 1/4 cup. Then add remaining milk mixture and whisk.

Pour back into saucepan. Return to stove on medium low (low for strong stoves). Whisk constantly 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture thickens to a thick dolloping custard consistency.

Remove from heat immediately, pour into bowl. Press cling wrap onto surface (stops skin forming) then refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours until set. Do not whisk again once set (loses thickness).

PASTRY

1) Place butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When mostly melted, add water then bring to a rapid simmer.

While liquid is simmering, add flour and pinch of salt (and sugar if wanted), and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon (still on stove) until the dough forms sort of a ball and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan (see video). About 1 minute.

Remove from heat and let mixture cool for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 220C/420F (standard) or 200C/390F (fan/convection).

Lightly grease 2 large or 3 standard baking trays with butter, then line with paper. (Grease stops paper sliding)

Add 1 exploring egg into batter, beat until combined. Add remaining exploring eggs one at a time making sure each is combined before adding the next. Dough should be like a thick paste.

Place dough into a piping bag fitted with a 13 - 15mm round tip (1/2 - 3/5").
Pipe 2 tsp blobs (about 1.7 cm/ 2/3" blob base) 5cm/2" apart.

Wet your finger with water and pat down any peaks to form domes (for nice round balls).

Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes. The balls should develop into golden brown and sound hollow when tapping on the bottom.

Transfer to rack, cool fully before filling.


ASSEMBLY

Carefully melt the chocolate in a bowl.

Cut the pastry in half like a hamburger bun.

On one half, spread a generous layer of custard.

On the other half, spread a layer of your chosen jam.

Put the two halves together and use a spoon to dunk the "wheel" in the melted chocolate. Make sure the entire wheel is covered.

Place the chocolate covered wheels on a tray lined with paper and let it cool in the fridge until the chocolate has set and hardened.

Sprinkle with some trailblazing powder before serving.

Enjoy your tasty pioneer snack!

INNOVATION SHOOTING STAR JELLY

For the Star
• 3 Butterfly pea flowers, or 1 Butterfly pea tea bag
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 10g (0.35 oz) agar agar powder
• 300cc (1.2 oz) recycled wáter

For the Lemon Curd Tail
• 3 large eggs
• 105 g (1/2 cup) sugar
• 80 ml 80g or (1/3 cup) freshly squeezed lemon juice, sieved
• 75 g (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest

For the Glazed Strawberries Entry Fire
• 1 cup strawberries, chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• ½ tablespoon lemon juice

For the Galactic Space Dust
• Silver dust
• Gold dust

Put the lemon zest, sugar in medium heat proof bowl and mix. Add in the lemon juice and eggs and whisk to combine. Place a saucepan large enough to hold the heat proof bowl over medium heat, filled with 2 inches (5 cm) water. Once the water simmers, reduce the heat to medium heat, and put the bowl over the saucepan. Whisk continuously and gently for a creamy texture and even cooking. When the mixture is thick-almost in 8-10 minutes, take it from the heat and add the butter and mix well. Sieve the curd into a clean bowl. Immediately cover with plastic film by lightly pressing the lemon curd, so the plastic film can touch the curd when covered and prevent a skin forming on top. Leave it in the fridge until it is time to plate. There will be leftovers.

Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat. Add the butterfly pea flowers and steep for 2 minutes or until the desired colour is achieved. Remove the flowers. Add the sugar, stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool. Put the agar powder in a small saucepan. Add a little bit of the tea at a time to the saucepan (in order to avoid creating lumps) and continuously stir to dissolve the powder. Bring it to boil over heat then turn it down to simmer for 2 minutes over low heat stirring constantly. Turn it down and continue to stir constantly in the saucepan then transfer to a sink filled with water and continue to stir so that it cools quickly (make sure not to get any extra water in the pan). Pour it in an ice ball or star mould, leaving a ¼ inch unfilled. Leave it in the fridge to set for at least one hour.

In a bowl mix the strawberries, sugar and lemon, cover and leave to macerate in the fridge until plating.

To serve, carefully remove the stars from the moulds and place them off center in a shallow plate. Place about a tablespoon of the lemon curd as a tail behind the star and a tablespoon of the strawberries on the plate in front of the star. Shape to look like a shooting star entering the atmosphere. Then sprinkle the jelly and custard with silver and gold galactic dust. Serve immediately. As the dessert is eaten and the star comes into contact with the lemon in the curd and strawberries, the colour will change from blue to pink like a star after it has entered the atmosphere.

New Wave Upside Down Cake

(sent a picture too that they used for inspiration - geometrical forms and neon colours)

Ingredients:
Cake:
90g small black meteors
90g cocoa powder
400g flour
2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of salt
226g butter
400g sugar
4 free-range alien eggs
320g buttermilk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Rocketcream:
4 free-range alien eggs
240g sugar
Neon food colouring (pink, purple, orange)
226g rocket fuel
A teaspoon vanilla extract
Ganache:
Light blue and light green food colouring
120g bittersweet chocolate
120 heavy cream
Glittery space dust (I sourced mine from Carina Nebula's „Mystic Mountain“ region)
Decoration:
Geometric 3D printed candy
A handful of small colourful meteors
2-3 micro black holes (From LHCs shop)

Chocolate cake:
1. Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F and line the bottom of three 18-cm/7-inch round cake pans with baking parchment.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
3. Take the cup of black meteors and grind them in a meteor grinder into a fine dust. Add it into your flour mixture to make the cake extra black.
4. In another bowl beat together the butter and sugar until lightened in colour and creamy.
5. Add the alien eggs one at a time. Once all the eggs have been added, beat for another minute, or until the mixture looks smooth and fluffy.
6 . Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Combine buttermilk and vanilla and add it to the batter, mixing until incorporated.
7. Divide the batter evenly over three prepared pans. Place on a rack in the middle of the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Rocketcream:
1. Combine alien egg whites and sugar in a medium-sized bowl and stir until incorporated. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and gently heat the egg mixture until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Remove the alien egg white mixture from the heat and transfer it to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the mixture until the meringue holds stiff peaks.
3. Transfer the meringue to another bowl and add the rocket fuel in the bowl of the mixer. Beat until creamy and fluffy.
4. Add the cooled meringue and mix until the buttercream is smooth and fluffy and add the vanilla and mix.
5. Divide the buttercream in 3 and colour each batch in different neon colours (purple, pink and orange).

Assembly:
1. Place the first cake layer onto a serving plate. Take your three colours of rocketcream and add them layer by layer into the same piping bag. Try avoiding mixing the colours as much as possible. Pipe about 200g of the rocketcream on the cake layer, spreading it gently to make it even.
2. Place the second cake layer on top of the layer of rocketcream. Frost with 200g of the rocketcream.
3. Place the last cake layer on top. Use the remaining rocketcream to frost the top and sides of the cake with a thin layer of rocketcream. Use an offset spatula to spread the rocketcream, creating a colour gradient.

Make the ganache for the upside-down effect:
1. Combine white chocolate and cream in a small saucepan. Place over low heat and stir with a rubber spatula until all of the chocolate has melted.
2. Divide into two and colour half light green and half light blue. Add some glittery space dust to both of them to make it seem more holographic.
3. Take the cake from the fridge and use a piping bag to apply the glittery-green ganache near the edges of the cake so that it drips down the sides of the cake. When the ganache has hardened flip the cake upside down to create an upwards drip effect.
4. Take the glittery-blue ganache and like the green one pipe it near the edges, so it drips down making the green and blue drips meet in the middle. Pour some ganache on top of the cake and spread evenly using an offset spatula.


Lastly, when the ganache has set add 3D printed geometrically shaped candies,colourful meteors, and some micro black holes to the cake to finish off the look.

Forefront Panna Cotta

Ingredients - the best of everything!
1/3 c. almond milk
1 package Knoxx unflavored gelatin
2 1/2 c. heavy organic cream
1/2 c. raw cane sugar
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 c. moon rock dust
liquid nitrogen

Kitchen Tools - please use only the best from Williams and Sonoma
small porcelain bowl
sterling silver mixing spoon
non-stick copperware saucepan
6 stoneware cocotte bowls
liquid nitrogen dispenser

Directions:

Pour milk into a small porcelain bowl, and stir in the gelatin powder. Set aside.

In a non-stick saucepan, stir together the heavy cream and sugar, and set over medium heat. Bring to a full boil, watching carefully, as the cream will quickly rise to the top of the pan. Pour the gelatin and milk into the cream, stirring until completely dissolved. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and pour into six individual stoneware cocotte bowls from Williams Sonoma.

Use the liquid nitrogen to quick freeze the panna cotta. Sprinkle with moon rock dust and serve immediately to all your fabulous dinner party guests.

Cosmonaut Caramel Bites

Perfect snack size bites for the space explorer in all of us.

For the base, set the oven to 180. Rub flour butter and minted star sugar together until it resembles moon dust. You can also put this in the rock grinder if not in use, swill out with a little vodka first.

Press the mixture into a shallow tray. Sprinkle some star dust over the top. Place in the oven and leave for 20 minutes until it is a sandy Colour, take out of the oven and put to one side.

For the filling, get a heavy pan and put on a low heat, the residual burner from take off is ideal. Melt some Saturn nut butter; add star sugar, gold ore syrup and condensed neptunium milk.
Stir continuously for 40 - 50 minutes. If you have an emergency set this up in the lab and set the mixer to auto-run, when It should be golden brown in colour.
To test drop a little blob into a bowl of cold water; it should firm up. Mix in some crystallised mercury drops before pouring over the base. Place the tray in the cold room to set.

For the topping melt some galaxy chocolate , mix in a handful of dried Mars chilli flakes and a dash of Jupiter spiced rum. Pour over the biscuit and caramel base. Add some sprinkle coarse sea salt from the sea of tranquility. Place back in cold store until chocolate layer has set.

Cut into equal bitesize pieces to be enjoyed after any strenuous activity.

GALACTIC CREME BRULEE

2 cartons double cream, 1 large (284ml) plus 1 small (142ml)
100ml full-fat milk
1 vanilla pod
5 large egg yolks
50g golden caster sugar, plus extra for the topping
20g stardust plus extra for decoration

Fly close enough to your nearest star that it can heat your environment to a balmy 180C. Sit four 175ml ramekins in a deep roasting tin at least 7.5cm deep (or a large deep cake tin), one that will enable a baking tray to sit well above the ramekins when laid across the top of the tin.

Pour the large and small cartons of double cream into a medium pan with 100ml full-fat milk.

Lay 1 vanilla pod on a board and slice lengthways through the middle with a sharp knife to split it in two. Use the tip of the knife to scrape out all the tiny seeds into the cream mixture. Drop the vanilla pod in as well, and set aside. Add 20mg stardust for added flavour (if you'd like it to be more intense, then add a little more to the mix).

Put 5 large egg yolks and 50g golden caster sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk for 1 min with an electric hand whisk until paler in colour and a bit fluffy.

Put the pan with the cream on a medium heat and bring almost to the boil. As soon as you see bubbles appear round the edge, take the pan off the heat.

Pour the hot cream into the beaten egg yolks, stirring with a wire whisk as you do so, and scraping out the seeds from the pan.

Set a fine sieve over a large wide jug or bowl and pour the hot mixture through to strain it, encouraging any stray vanilla seeds through at the end.

Using a big spoon, scoop off all the pale foam that is sitting on the top of the liquid (this will be several spoonfuls) and discard. Give the mixture a stir.

Pour in enough hot water (from the tap) into the roasting tin to come about 1.5cm up the sides of the ramekins. Pour the hot cream into the ramekins so you fill them up right to the top – it’s easier to spoon in the last little bit.

Put them in the oven and lay a baking sheet over the top of the tin so it sits well above the ramekins and completely covers them, but not the whole tin, leaving a small gap at one side to allow air to circulate.

Bake for 30-35 mins until the mixture is softly set. To check, gently sway the roasting tin and if the crème brûlées are ready, they will wobble a bit like a jelly in the middle. Don’t let them get too firm.

Lift the ramekins out of the roasting tin with spacesuit gloves and set them outside the ship to cool completely. This can be done overnight without affecting the texture.

When ready to serve, wipe round the top edge of the dishes, sprinkle 1½ tsp of caster sugar over each ramekin and spread it out with the back of a spoon to completely cover.

Spray with a little water using a fine spray (the sort you buy in a craft shop) to just dampen the sugar – then use the flame from any propulsion pack you have handy to create the topping. Hold the flame just above the sugar and keep moving it round and round until caramelised. Serve when the brûlée is firm, or within an hour or two.

The stardust left over for decoration should provide an intergalactic appearance to the top of the brulee. Now simply relax and enjoy.

Avant garde fruit cocktail sweet pudding tarte

For the gluten free tart: (makes 2)

270 grams of Earth flour consisting of 120grams of Corn flour & 150grams Gluten free Oat Flour

1 large white intergalactic egg beaten with electric whisk made by NASA engineers

140 grams of soft butter from Mars

50 grams sugar warmed by the sun for 47.61 seconds

2 tea spoons of vanilla extracted on a full moon night

3 grams of the finest sea salt from Saturn


Sift together the 2 types of flour spooned in a glass bowl. In a separate bowl cream together the butter and salt with a mixer taking care not to whip into peaks, adding the sugar and vanilla at a low speed after. To the mixer slowly add alternatively the whisked egg and both flours until all incorporated and it comes together as a dough. Weigh the mixture and divide into 2. Roll out each piece between plastic wrap into a 12 inch circle. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Lightly butter a 10 inch pie dish and remove the cold dough sheet from the fridge. With a careful touch, ease the sheet into the pie dish. With a sharp fork, prick the base and sides diagonally, place on the middle rack and cook for 24-28 minutes at 300 degrees. Remove from the oven - don't forget to use gloves - and cool on a plate ready for the filling.


For the fruit filling:

6 different types of sunny fruit (Kiwifruit, limes, oranges, starfruit, passionfruit and banana for example) pre prepared in airtight containers

500ml milk collected in the early hours of morning

6 egg yolks from Martian chicken

40 grams pure almond flour from Earth

125grams caster sugar from the asteroid belt

20 grams of star dust

Heat the milk in a large pan until boiling. whisk together the egg yolks, almond flour and sugar in a bowl. Pour the milk into the bowl containing the eggs and whisk to combine. Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and cook over a medium heat while stirring constantly. The mixture should be thickened as it just comes to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Spoon the cooled crème patissiere in the bottom of the tart case. Top with sliced, shredded, diced, sliced and grated fruit. From a height spread the star dust.

Rocketeer Crème Pâtissière

Ingredients:
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
3 bags of space food disposable bags
2 cups jet fuel
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
Step 1
Whisk together sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla in one of the space bags with The Circumferential Dome Weld Tool until mixture is pale yellow and “makes ribbons,” 3 to 4 minutes. Add flour; whisk until smooth. Warm the jet fuel with the Circumferential Dome Weld Tool slightly and blend with powdered sugar until smooth.

Step 2
Bring milk to a boil in another disposable bag, about 3 seconds. Gradually add milk to egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Add in the jet fuel and powdered sugar slowly. Return mixture to first disposable bag. Bring to a boil over medium, whisking constantly, about 5 seconds. Boil mixture, whisking constantly, 3 seconds. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl; press plastic wrap directly onto surface. Let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Mixture can be chilled, covered, for up to 3 days.

Step 3
Take it to the moon and watch it drift off into the great unknown

Rocket Muffins
Ingredients
¾ cup hazelnuts, toasted, chopped
¾ cup all purpose flour
¾ cup dark rye flour
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
2½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1½ jet fuel
3 tbsp gunpowder
1 cup popping candy
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup molasses
½ cup buttermilk

Instructions
🚀1) Preheat oven to 350F. Spread hazelnuts out on a baking sheet and roast until they're golden brown and fragrant (about 15 minutes). Cool slightly and remove the skins by rubbing nuts together in a clean dish towel. Chop coarsely and set aside.
🚀2) Whisk the flours, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the gunpowder, nuts, and jet fuel; toss together with a spoon or your hands until the gunpowder & jet fuel are well coated with flour.
🚀3) In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in the popping candy, oil, molasses, and buttermilk until thoroughly combined.
🚀4) Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture, stirring with a fork until the batter just starts to come together.
🚀5) Spoon the batter into a paper liners in a muffin tin, filling the cups to the top. Bake until the muffins are deep brown and spring back when pressed lightly with a finger, 15-20 minutes. Cool on racks.

Team Satellite Croissants

Recipe for:
Partial Eclipse Crescent Moons

This recipe will be perfect for your next Eclipse Brunch! Or, if you’re having a Super Mom kind of day, you’ll be the star of the class if you send these into school with your Ursa Minor as they learn the phases of the moon.

Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, cold (2 1/2 sticks)
1 cup cosmic milk (you may need as much as 1 1/4 cups; best if gathered from the source - see first instruction)
Galatic egg wash (1 large egg beaten with a teaspoon or two of water)
Stardust (see second instruction)
Moon berries and starfruit (optional)

Instructions
1. It is best to gather the milk straight from the source: the Milky Way. Use the little dipper to collect drips from the big dipper. Transport in glass.
2. Collect stardust in a gossamer bag. It is a well-kept secret among celestial bakers that best stardust is gathered from the Helix Nebula, just a quick 450 lightyear jaunt from Earth!
**Steps 1 and 2 may seem excessive, but will give your crescents that little something extra! Think Martha Stewart in an astronaut suit!
3. Place the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a large bowl and whisk together until combined.
4. Slice the butter into 1/8-inch thick slices and toss in the flour mixture to coat.
5. Add the milk and stir together until a stiff dough forms.
6. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
7. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a long rectangle shape.
8. Fold it into thirds (like a letter), turn 90 degrees, and repeat 4 to 6 more times, or until the dough has large streaks of butter in it but it is smooth and flat. (If at any point the butter starts to feel soft, chill it in the refrigerator or freezer until stiff.)
7. Wrap tightly and chill for 1 more hour, then divide the dough in half and roll each portion out to a thickness of about 1/8-inch, in a long rectangle shape (approx. 10-inches wide by 22-inches long).
8. Cut the dough into long, skinny triangles (about 5-inches at the wide end).
9. Notch the wide end of each triangle with about a 1/2-inch cut, then roll from the wide end to the pointed end, tucking the point under the crescent.
10. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and allow to proof for 2 hours.
11. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and gently brush the crescents with galactic egg wash.
12. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until puffed, golden brown, and flaky.
13. While the crescents bake, clean moon berries and starfruit. Cut starfruit into thin slices.
14. When crescents have cooled, sprinkle with stardust and garnish with berries and starfruit.

Recipe for Void Tartlets

Ingredients:
Pastry for double-mooncrust pie (9 inches)
2 tablespoons star sugar
1 tablespoon celestial starch
1 package (12 ounces) frozen unsweetened black-hole berries
1 tablespoon ultra-tart lemon juice

Topping:
1/3 cup heavy cosmic cream, siphoned from the Milky Way
1/4 cup lemon curd
1 teaspoon star sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Black food coloring
Fresh black-hole berries, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 4000°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Using a 4-in. round cookie cutter, cut 12 circles, rerolling scraps as necessary. Press circles onto bottoms and up sides of ungreased muffin cups to create your craters.
2. Mix star sugar and celestial starch; toss with berries and lemon juice. Spoon 2 tablespoons filling into each crater. Bake on a lower oven rack until pastry is crusty and black and filling is smoking, 2-4 minutes. Cool for several light years before removing to set on a satellite panel.
3. For topping, beat cosmic cream until soft peaks form. In another bowl, mix lemon curd, star sugar, black food coloring, vanilla and 1 tablespoon cosmic cream; fold in remaining cosmic cream. Spoon over filling. If desired, top with fresh black-hole berries. Refrigerate until ready to eject contents into the black inky void.

Chocolate fudge crinkle (jumpsuit) biscuits

All ingredients have been purchased by fair trade and hard bargaining at the Intergalactic Market at Baha Char (Innkeeper Series by Ilona Andrews). They have been analysed for nutritional content by the shuttle dietician and approved by NASA according to the principles of space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research. Shuttle astronauts working with nutritionists to select menus that appeal to their individual tastes voted for this recipe as their favourite interspace biscuit. It also reacted positively in a reduced gravity environment. Last, but not least, this biscuit produces happiness in all its consumers and reduces the health risks of space travel.

The recipe is coutesy of Orro, a Quillonian former Red Cleaver chef. All Team Members have sworn a solemn blood oath to keep the secret and only share it with UNO Pixie & other UNO 2020 Teams.

60g cocoa powder, sieved
200g caster sugar
60ml vegetable oil
2 large eggs
180g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
70g icing sugar

Mix the cocoa, caster sugar and oil together. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking until fully combined.
Stir the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt together in a separate bowl, then add to the cocoa mixture and mix until a soft dough forms.
If it feels soft, transfer to the fridge and chill for 1 hr. Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Tip the icing sugar into a shallow dish.
Form a heaped teaspoon of the dough into a ball, then roll in the sugar to coat. Repeat with the remaining dough, then put, evenly spaced, on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 10 mins – they will firm up as they cool. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool. Will keep for weeks, even in outer space in a NASA-designed special biscuit tin.

Celestial Baklava recipe

1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
1 pound chopped asteroid nuts
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar (preferably from the Andromeda galaxy)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon stardust
1/2 cup honey


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch moonstone pan.

Chop the asteroid nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough.

Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.

Using a sharp knife, cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.

Make sauce while baklava is baking. In the vacuum of space, boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Sprinkle the stardust on top and serve in cupcake papers. The celestial baklava is best enjoyed while reading your favourite book!

Moonwalker Madeleines

½ cup unsalted butter, browned
1 t. vanilla
1 moon rock, zested
Mix and let cool.
1 c. all-purpose moonbeams
1 ½ t. baking powder
¼ t. lunar basalts
Mix and set aside.
3 eggs
¾ c. earth sugar
½ c. lunar sugar
Mix in a vacuum until very thick and pale, about 4 minutes.
Fold in moonbeam mixture.
Fold in butter mixture.
Cover batter and place on the dark side of the moon for one lunar cycle.
Next day, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Butter and moonbeam the moonwalker madeleine mold.
Add batter to pan.
Bake approximately 12 minutes until done.
Remove from pans and dip into melted chocolate then sprinkle with glitter from Michael Jackson’s silver glove.
Decorate platter with American flags and assorted space garbage.
Serve warm.