By Christine Salins.
Who doesn’t love Tim Tams? Have you ever thought about trying to make them yourself?
Young Melbourne baker Morgan Hipworth offers his take on Tim Tams in his book, Made By Morgan (Penguin, $24.99). I’m calling him ‘young’ because right now he’s making me feel very old.
In 2016, when he was just 15, Morgan opened his Melbourne bakehouse, Bistro Morgan. You read that right … 15. He held his first home-bake sale at the age of nine and by the time he opened Bistro Morgan, he’d already been selling sweet treats to Melbourne cafés for some time. At one time, he was supplying doughnuts for anywhere between five and 15 cafés every weekend.
His bakehouse in the Melbourne suburb of Windsor is famous and he’s amassed a huge following on social media – 80,000+ on Instagram and more than half a million on TikTok. I’ll have to take his publicist’s word for that last figure as, unlike our TikTokking Prime Minister, I’m not on TikTok. Showing my age once again.
A devoted fan of MasterChef Australia from a very young age, Morgan was a guest judge on Junior MasterChef Australia at the age of 19. He has also hosted his own miniseries on Nick Jr. So how does he do it? With fun and laughter, an incredible passion for food, and a lot of chutzpah, it seems.
In the book, he brings together 60 of his favourite recipes, from sweet treats to savoury snacks to delicious meals. He reveals secrets about his famously irresistible doughnuts and re-invents classics like lamingtons and Gaytime icecreams.
Remarkably, Morgan now employs full-time bakers who he has personally trained – and that makes me feel very old too.
Homemade Tim Tams
Makes 12
For the biscuits:
230 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (150g) brown sugar
½ cup (110g) caster sugar
2 free-range eggs, room temperature
3¼ cups (485g) plain flour
2 tablespoons cornflour
2 teaspoons bi-carb soda
¼ cup (25g) cocoa powder
For the chocolate buttercream:
90 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (250g) icing sugar, sifted
⅓ cup (30g) cocoa powder, sifted
1 tablespoon malted milk powder
⅓ cup (80ml) full-cream milk
For the chocolate topping
200 grams chocolate (50–60% cocoa solids)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
To make the biscuits:
In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter, brown sugar and caster sugar for 3 minutes, then add the eggs and mix for a further 5 minutes until the mixture looks smooth, pale and fluffy. Add the plain flour, cornflour, bi-carb soda and cocoa powder, and mix until just combined.
Press the dough out into a disc (this will make it easier to roll out later), wrap in a tea towel and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or ideally overnight.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper into a 5-millimetre-thick sheet. Remove the sheets and cut the dough into 4 x 8-centimetre rectangles, and place on your baking tray. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow the biscuits to cool completely.
To make the chocolate buttercream:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter for 2 minutes or until smooth. Add the icing sugar, cocoa powder and malted milk powder, and mix on medium speed for 3 minutes or until smooth and fluffy. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly pour in the milk and continue mixing for 2 minutes or until the mixture is well combined, scraping down the sides as needed. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1-centimetre nozzle.
To make the chocolate topping:
In a bowl over a double boiler, combine the chocolate and coconut oil and stir continuously until you have a smooth mixture. (Alternatively, you can melt the mixture in the microwave, stirring in 30-second intervals, until it is smooth.)
To assemble:
Pipe the buttercream filling onto a biscuit and place another biscuit on top to create a ‘sandwich’. Over a wire rack, spoon over the chocolate topping over the top and sides and allow to set.
Recipe and image from Made By Morgan, by Morgan Hipworth, published by Penguin, $24.99.
