The power of this seductive pavlova dessert lies hidden within its crusty exterior that once broken into, reveals a pillow like interior, soft and fluffy  with a slight chewy texture. A grown ups cotton candy smothered in sweet chantilly cream. Much like a meringue, pavlova utilizes the  stiff whipping of egg whites combined with sugar to produce a glossy sweet  cloud that when gently cooked turns into the oven baked miracle that is pavlova.

Using a small amount of brown sugar alongside the caster sugar gives the pavlova a slight caramel flavor, and the addition of verjuice over vinegar most commonly found in pavlova recipes adds the required acid component without the overpowering vinegar hit.

To ensure pavlova success, here are a few important watchpoints to bear in mind when preparing this Classic  New Zealand dessert with a modern twist.

Choose fresh free range eggs. With pavlova, it’s all about the eggs.  The fresher the eggs, the better, as fresh eggs will ensure that the egg whites whip up to dramatic peaks. Also, choose free range over caged as the eggs will be much tastier. I used Mcleans Run Open Range Eggs and they produced exquisite results with Everest like peaks.

Use the eggs at room temperature not cold from the refrigerator. Cold eggs will result in less volume when the whites are whipped.

When separating the eggs, make sure that there is no traces of yolk in the whites. Yolk will prevent the whites from whipping strongly.

When whipping the egg whites and incorporating the sugar, doing this slowly, a tablespoon of sugar sprinkled over the whipping whites at a time allows the sugar enough time to dissolve. Adding the sugar to fast will result in grainy pavlovas.

The total amount of whipping time is about 5 minutes in an electric cake mixer as over whipping the pavlova will deflate the egg whites.

Pavlovas like a slow bake in a low oven. Setting the oven on  bake at 120c is fantastic and can only be improved on if your oven has a fanless function.

Brown sugar  pavlova mini’s

Makes: 8 individual brown sugar pavlova mini’s

Ingredients

6 large free range egg yolks – at room temperature
1 & 1/2 cups caster sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 & 1/2 tablespoons of cornflour
2 teaspoons of verjuice
Pinch of salt

Method

Preheat the oven on bake set at 120 C / 250F  with the shelf set in the middle of the oven.

Mix together the caster sugar, brown sugar, cornflour and salt and push this mixture through a sieve to remove any possible lumps.  Pour into  a small bowl and set aside.

Carefully separate the egg whites from the egg yolks, ensuring that no yolk is present in the egg whites.

Place the egg whites into a clean mixer bowl and whisk on medium to high speed until the whites are just stiff.

Slowly incorporate the sugar mixture  1 tablespoon at a time whilst the mixer whisks on medium to high. This process should take about 5 minutes of continuous mixing and the mixture should be thick and glossy by the time the sugar is all incorporated.

Add the verjuice and mix to just combine.

Spray a flat baking tray with cooking spray and line with baking paper.

Using a 7-9cm  round cookie cutter mould , lay the mould on to the baking tray and fill the mould with 4 heaped tablespoons of the pavlova mixture. Carefully remove the mould by pulling up to reveal the pavlova mound. Repeat the process until all the mixture has been used up, ensuring you leave spaces between the pavlovas to allow the mixture space to bake freely.

Bake the pavlovas for 1 hour or until crisp fully firm on top, and when lightly tapped on the bottom the pavlovas should sound hollow.

Remove the pavlovas from the oven and carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Serve topped with honeyed cream and fresh or stewed berries, kiwi fruit or banana.

Pavlova will keep for 3-4 days , covered in the pantry.

I refuse to make excuses for the amount of butter, eggs and milk in this dish. It is on all accounts a Jenny Craig consultants nightmare served up with a side of homemade jam. Granted it is an excellent way to use up old bread, but that’s no longer the purpose for cooking this dish. I cook it because it tastes superb and makes me feel really good.

When it comes to dessert cookery,  I don’t like to travel to far outside my comfort zone, opting for the more memory educing, old fashioned favorites that my Nana’s used to prepare for our huge household. Apple crumble,  golden syrup dumplings, sago plum pudding and steamed apple puddings were among my favorites and most often requested Sunday dinner treat. Bread and butter pudding in all it’s enriched goodness has the ability to render me helpless when served warm with ice cream.

This version is great for slicing and toasting where the old school recipe has turned from a pudding into a cafe ready slice, with the only difference in the two being it’s appearance and deliver method. Slices are a lot easier to portion than a pudding, and  I am able to heat it through on a flat grill or sandwich press to give it back it’s crisp warm benefits so it can be kept in the refrigerator until required.

However, you can  use this recipe  either way, as a slice or as a pudding cooked in  a loaf tin or  cake round. The only other consideration I feel that I need to point out is to ensure the bread you are using is of top quality. I use an organic sourdough from  artisan bakers Brasserie Bread with crusts removed that is about 4 days old, the perfect way to use up rather than toss out. The only problem here is,  I rarely have any left over bread in the house as it gets scoffed up as soon as it arrives. I’ve taken to buying extra bread so I can luxuriate and allow father time to step in and stale it up for a dessert pudding treat.

Bread and Butter Slice Recipe

Recipe yields 8-10 thick slices

1  stale loaf of organic sourdough or similar, about 800gms in total weight
200 gms butter ~ softened so it’s spreadable
8 egg yolks
1500 mls milk
3/4 cup of caster sugar
1 vanilla pod ~ split and seeds scraped

If not already done so for you,  cut the bread into slices about 10cms in thickness and remove the crusts. Keep the crusts for breadcrumbs if desired.

Preheat the oven on fan bake to 180c. I use an Electrolux combination steam oven on interval steam set at 180c which gives  additional moisture and superior finish  to this recipe.

Using a pastry brush for quick even coverage, generously  brush the bread slices with butter on both sides.

Heat the milk, vanilla pod and seeds  over medium to high heat or induction setting 8 until the milk almost comes to the boil.

In a large metal bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until well combined and set aside.

As soon as the milk scalds or almost boils, pour directly on to the yolks and sugar, whisking furiously  to combine quickly and effectively. Remove the vanilla pod.

Pour the mixture back into a clean pot and return to the cooktop on medium heat or induction setting 6.

Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, cook-out the custard until the mixture coats the back of the spoon. Avoid bringing the mixture to the
boil as this will cause the custard to split.

When the custard is ready, remove from the heat and pour back into a  clean metal bowl, whisking to help cool the mixture down a little. Pour the
mixture  into a jug for ease in pouring on to the bread.

Grease a non stick loaf tin with butter and arrange a layer of bread on the bottom of the tin, slicing the bread if necessary to get it to fit snugly into the base of the tin. Pour some of the custard over the bread and repeat until all the bread and custard is used up and the loaf tin is full to the brim.

Place in the oven, with a tray under it to catch any drips and cook for 35-45 minutes until golden and slightly risen.

Remove from the oven and cool in the tin if using as a slice. You will notice that the loaf will deflate slightly, which is normal. If serving as a pudding, serve immediately with ice cream or pouring cream.

When I serve it as a slice I like to accompany it with dollop of home-made plum or strawberry jam.

Salted peanut caramel ~ more addictive than crack

A highly addictive and pleasingly simple confectionary that has delighted many of my customers and staff alike. I too am guilty of over-indulging in shards of its ruthless crunch and sweet salty balance. My teeth must curse me every time I make this, but it’s worth the extra effort in oral hygiene. A recent remark from one of my customers had me remembering just how first-rate this recipe is and how imperative it is that I share it with you.   “I gotta get me some of that salted peanut caramel. I read a review online that it’s more addictive than crack!”

My dad used to love this as a child, with the version he used to buy being somewhat more honeycomb-like in texture with the addition of baking soda which causes it to froth uncontrollably. This version looks good stacked in a large glass jar or makes great school fete treats, served in a brown paper bag with a ribbon. I’ve given you the recipe for a large glass jar full, but feel free to cut the recipe in half if 5 cups of sugar sounds like an overly daunting prospect.

Salted peanut caramel recipe

Ingredients:

5 cups of white sugar
2 cups of water
100 gms of butter
2 cups of roasted, salted skinless peanuts

Method:

Spray a large metal tray with non stick oil and then line it with baking paper.

Into a heavy bottomed pot place the sugar and water and heat on high or induction setting 8.

Allow the sugar and water to come to a gentle rolling boil and cook the mixture until the water evaporates and the sugar begins to turn a light caramel colour. This step should take about 15 minutes.

It pays to not walk away from the cooktop as you are waiting for the sugar to turn to caramel, as it “goes” fairly quickly and may surprise you at it’s speed at turning from white to caramel.

As soon as the sugar turns to caramel, remove immediately from the heat and add the butter, stirring through until smooth.
Beat in the peanuts and then carefully pour the mixture on to the lined metal tray.

If the caramel is thick, line the top of the caramel with more baking paper and carefully roll with a rolling pin to flatten, being extremely careful as the caramel is piping hot.

Allow the caramel to cool completely before snapping into rough pieces and consuming.

A Not so Tipsy Trifle Recipe

As far as my Dad was concerned, Christmas wasn’t Christmas until someone placed a large decorative glass bowl of devilishly sweet trifle onto the buffet table. Whenever my Mother would ask what sweets should be prepared for our Christmas day feast, “Trifle!” was always the answer. Onto a little bit of history about the trifle recipe.

Trifle History

The humble trifle is an English invention that started life sometime in the 1500′s as a whipped cream dessert flavored with ginger and rose water. Eventually the custard was added as well as alcohol to soak the sponge and help create the pudding like texture. The Italians also have a version of trifle which they call Zuppa Inglese which means English soup!

Growing up in the Southern hemisphere, Christmas day has always been  a warm occasionally blistering hot affair. Once we’d finished ripping the colorful wrap from our presents, a trip to the beach or outdoors for  a barbecue was usually on the cards. Christmas fare came in many shapes and  sizes from the traditional Ham on the bone with whole seeded mustard, right through to a freshly caught crayfish, sliced down the middle, slathered in creamy butter and thrown on the hot grills to  barbecue and sizzle.

Trifle has the wonderful ability to be either  a hot day dessert or a mid winter treat, but Trifle will always be summer food to me, thanks to my wonderful Dad’s love of its layered spongy goodness. Many stories and variations have been written about trifle, and my Dad’s favorite version omits the alcohol and includes lots of summer sweet berries, egg yellow custard and lashings of sweetened whipped cream. I’ve taken Dad’s delight one step further and have included grated dark chocolate for added taste and interesting texture.

Summer Berry and Chocolate Trifle

Makes one extra large glass bowl to serve 10-12 as part of a dessert buffet or 6-8 as the only dessert.

This dessert must be started the day before you intend to eat it.

Ingredients

1 punnet of strawberries ~ hulled and cut into quarters

2 punnets of fresh summer berries of your choice like rasperries, blueberries or boysenberries

1/3 jar of good quality pitted cherries + 1/2 cup of the cherry juice

1/3 cup of brown sugar

300mls full fat milk

1 vanilla pod ~ seeded scraped

8 large  free range egg yolks

75g caster sugar

300mls of cream for whipping

3 heaped Tbsp of icing sugar

1 medium sized trifle sponge

150gms of bittersweet dark chocolate ~ 120g chopped and 30g grated

A handful of fresh berries for garnishing the top of the trifle

Method

• Prepare the  berries  by placing the fresh berries of your choosing into a saucepan along with the brown sugar. Place onto medium to high  heat or induction setting 7 and bring the berries to a gentle simmer. Allow the berries to cook until soft and a wonderful syrup has formed. Allow to cool.
• Gently heat the milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan on medium heat or induction setting 6 along with the scraped vanilla seeds and vanilla pod. Whilst the milk heats whisk together the yolks and caster sugar in a large bowl until well combined.
• Heat the milk until it almost comes to the boil and then pour over the yolks and sugar whilst whisking to combine well. Remove the vanilla pod and toss know that you’ve extracted all the flavor from it.
• Pour the custard mixture back into  a clean pot and place on a medium to low heat or induction setting 5 and gently cook stirring constantly until the custard thickens , or coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
• Break or cut the trifle into large chunks and place a generous layer of the sponge on the bottom of the glass bowl bowl you intend to serve it in.
• Using the juice from the cooked berries and the juice from the cherries, pour half the  liquid over the sponge. Add another layer of sponge and pour over the remaining juice.
• Top the soaked sponge with half the chopped chocolate and then cover with the berries and cherries.
• Pour over the cooled custard smooth on top with a spatula.  Place cling film directly on to the custard layer  and set in the fridge to cool and set overnight.
• Just before you are ready to serve the dessert, whip the cream and icing sugar until it forms semi stiff peaks.
• Remove the cling film from the bowl and sprinkle over the remaining chopped chocolate and top with the whipped cream.
• Garnish the top of the trifle with fresh berries and a good generous sprinkling of the grated chocolate. Cover again with cling film and keep chilled in the fridge until ready to serve.

Do you have a favourite trifle recipe?

The Secrets to a GREAT Banoffee Pie!

Like a lovers first kiss, I fully remember the first time I succumbed to  Banoffee Pie. Its decadent toffee flavour seduced me at first bite and whispered sweet tropical nothings in my ear. What clever wizardry is this that four basic ingredients can taste so fantastic together?  The simplicity of this dish has always astounded me. How could something so simple as Banoffee Pie, taste so right? In a culinary world  where we are bombarded with multiple layers, exotic flavour combinations and gastronomic contortions, it’s so wonderfully comforting to know that simple still works deliciously.

Banoffee pie is a blend of words or portmanteau being  1 part banana to 2 parts toffee otherwise known as the “Banoffee” A biscuit base is processed and then pushed into a fluted tart mould, chilled and then covered in fabulous toffee, sliced banana and whipped sweetened cream. It couldn’t be easier and more effective. A dessert invented in the 1970’s in Sussex England, it has stood the test of time with its abilities to raise heart felt “ooohhhs and aahhhs” whenever it is served.

A fine example of Banoffee Pie can be found at the chic and ever so cool Cafe Sopra at Fratelli Fresh in Sydney, where I once indulged after a salad of white sardines and heirloom tomatoes with vincotto. As I was dining with 3 lunch companions we stupidly chose to share a banoffee pie between the four of us , something I vow to never do again!

When invited to attend the Electrolux Cooking School at  Fratelli Fresh for a  hands on cooking class  in Sydney’s Food destination of Danks Street, Waterloo,  I jumped at the chance and was enchanted to see that the three course menu we were to put together did in fact have the Fratelli Banoffee Pie as its sweet course. The chefs at Fratelli did all the hard work for us, which was the boiling and cooking of the cans of condensed milk which forms the toffee or dulce de leche, but I  have seen jars of pre- made toffee in delis for those wishing to short cut this process.

Chef Andy Bunn from Cafe Sopra at Fratelli gently guided us through the Banoffee Pie assembly process, to which we all got the opportunity to step back on to our individual cooking stations and whip up a treat with a chilled glass of Pinot Grigio’s firmly in hand!

The Banoffee Pie Secret

The secret to their Banoffee Pie success Andy said, was the use of ripe bananas so the flavour is sweet and starchy. You also need to assemble this dessert only moments before you intend to serve it as the bananas will go black if left to oxidize. I have to say that there was no fear of this dessert being left to go brown as we were happy to whip into it as soon as it was ceremoniously unmolded from its metal confines.

I did  get to take some home  in a little takeaway container for a late night snack in front of the refrigerator, along with a basket full of wonderful produce from Fratellis own warehouse style produce and deli market.  This was only possible thanks to the wonderful spread that was put on by Andy the team at Fratelli once our class was over.  A special thanks to Andy  for sharing his luscious Banoffee Pie recipe.

How to Make Banoffee Pie

Recipe by Andy Bunn, Cafe Sopra at Fratelli  Fresh

Serves 12

Ingredients

2 x 395g cans of sweetened condensed milk

180g unsalted butter, chopped

375g digestive biscuits, halved

60ml thickened cream

2 vanilla beans, seeds scraped out

75g icing sugar, sifted

4 bananas

30g dark chocolate, finely grated

Method

• Place cans of the condensed milk in a large saucepan of water and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2 hours adding water if necessary to ensure cans remain covered, remove cans and cool in the fridge for a couple of hours.
• Meanwhile melt butter in a small saucepan, and then cool slightly. Using a food processor crush biscuits into fine crumbs, add the butter and process briefly to combine. Pres crumb mixture over the base of a greased 28cm loose based tin, then refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm the base.
• Open cooled cans of condensed milk and spoon caramel evenly over the biscuit base and refrigerate overnight until firm.
• To assemble pie: Using electric mixer whisk cream, vanilla bean seeds and sugar to stiff peaks. Cut bananas into thin slices. Remove pie from the tin and loosen base and place on a plate. Spoon or pipe half the whipped cream over the caramel filling, then place bananas in an overlapping circle working from the outside in. Top with remaining cream and sprinkle with grated chocolate.
• Cut into slices with a hot dry knife and serve immediately.

Tips: To stop noise of the cans rattling in the saucepan, place a folded tea towel in the base before adding the water. Enjoy your Banoffee Pie!

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Cookbook Review: Planet Cake Cupcakes by Paris Cutler

How to become a cupcake decorating machine!

MUCH has been frosted, filled and written about cupcakes, and I emphasis the MUCH with a capital M! The  Global Cupcake phenomena and cupcake decorating craze has been raging for a couple of years now and there seems to be no letting up as cupcakes get tastier, more adventurous in combinations and more extreme in decoration. These  individual teeny tiny cakes have become the chic vehicle for announcing birthdays, weddings, christenings and farewells to a generation of adoring fans.

Paris Cutler, author and owner  of Planet Cake in Sydney’s Balmain says she originally saw the cupcake craze as just a fad and looked at cupcakes as being the poor cousin of the more serious “big cakes”. If not for a chance remark by one A-list celebrity had Cutler reevaluate  her feeling towards cupcakes, and has seen her shop and business embrace  cupcakes popularity with gusto. What once was looked at as passing faze is now described as “magic you can eat” and a mix between fantasy and comfort thats made just for you.

Cutlers latest cookbook “Planet Cup Cakes” is not your ordinary cupcake decorating book. There isn’t a single photograph of  piped frosting and sprinkles insight. These cupcakes are design- er. They are intricate and carefully thought out to gain from  the eater, maximum cupcake reaction. You would expect more than a simple “oh thats nice” if you were to toil over the cupcakes in this book.

There is a well needed  page on How to use this book which I highly recommend you familiarize yourself with before reading on, as cupcakes start to get down to business in the next few pages. Cutler advises that you take your time and have all your Mis En Place (everything in place) before you begin decorating.  Essential planning and preparation for the cupcake session should begin 1 month prior to when you will be requiring the masterpiece so this is definitely a ‘plan ahead cookbook’ as opposed to a spur of the moment  ` let’s decorate some cupcakes’ style cookbook.

And the cupcakes are just that, little works of art with some of them so cute and delicate it would almost seem a shame to eat them ~ almost. The book grades the cupcake decorating designs from easiest  at the start of the book to more complex towards the end with some knowledge of basic cake decorating under your belt being certainly helpful as you negotiate your way through ganaching, coloring fondant and piping with royal icing.

There are 21 different cupcakes design elements in this book ranging from cute little baby faces dressed in animal costumes, bad mannered monsters poking tongues. mosaics, prints and modeled woodland creatures. within those 21 designs is a mountain of techniques, tips and tricks to make you a great cupcake decorator as well as recipes for making vanilla, chocolate and gluten free cupcake bases, ganache and fondant. There are also pages on equipment, materials, foundation techniques and a handy trouble shooting section as well just in case you run into cupcake drama along the way.

With Christmas just around the corner this would  make a wonderful ‘Chrissy prezzie’ for a loved one who likes the intricate nature of cake decorating and would appreciate what goes into such beautiful cupcake decorating designs. If you buy it for them before Christmas, they can be in charge of whipping up a  non-traditional Christmas cupcake scene as Santa and his crew have got to be the cutest guys around!

Planet Cake Cupcake book retails for $45.00 AUD and is available in bookstores from November 2010 .

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I seem to have lost the art of couch potato-ing.

The thought of sitting in front of a Television set when I’m at home doesn’t appeal to me anymore.

Have I come of age? Has television programming become stale and robotic? Is my couch not as comfortable as it could be? Has the Internet become my new form of edutainment?

I think all of the above are correct in someway with one more added statement to describe my lack of tele-watching  enthusiasm.

The kitchen has become the heart of the home again.

I can happily say that I would much rather be cooking and sharing the food love with my family then sitting stone faced in front of the box watching reruns of terrible American sitcoms.

Last night was no exception as I skipped merrily into the kitchen and produced this super little dessert with the help of Miss8 and visiting Miss6. In fact it was so simple they did all the stirring and licking of bowls for me!

Sticky Date and Molasses Pudding

Ingredients:

200gm pitted dates ~ roughly chopped

1 ¼ cup water

½ tsp baking soda

60g unsalted butter ~ softened

¾ cup dark brown sugar

2 eggs

¼ cup molasses

1 cup self raising flour

Pinch of salt

1 tsp ginger

Methodology:

• Preheat the oven to 180c on Fan bake.
• In a small saucepan bring to the boil the dates and water. Reduce to a simmer and cook gently for 5 minutes until the dates begin to breakdown.Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
• In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and the sugar is dissolved.
• Mix in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.
• Pour in the molasses and mix until well combined.
• Sift together the flour, salt and ginger and fold through the wet mixture lightly.
• Pour the mixture into a well greased pudding basin or 6 individual greased ramekins and bake in the oven for 25 minutes for individuals or  40 minutes for a large one or until a skewer inserted into the pudding comes out clean.
• Serve hot from the oven with clotted cream, ice cream, or butterscotch sauce

Photo Credits: Roberto Kapp of www.bobbykphotography.com. and Ben Sutherland via Flickr

photo by Allerina & Glen MacLarty

Firstly prepare your fish bones … I’ve always wanted to start a dessert post with just such a statment.

Had we been preparing this Italian dessert tradizionale we would have started with the preperation of our fish bones which were used as the thickening agent.

Techonolgy now on our side, we are able to utilise a sprinkle or two of gelatin… thank fully.

Panna cotta hails from the Emilia -Romagna region of Italy,  the long held strong hold of Italian Gastronomy. For centuries the people of Emilia-Romagna have been delighting our palates and amplifying our bellies with such regional delights as Prosciuttio di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano and of course the frangible and lightly cooked panna cotta.

The literal translation of panna cotta is “cooked cream”, which it is only just . The gelatin is used to set the dessert and I have added white chocolate to this recipe to make it extra decadent.

This relatively simple dessert, consisting traditionally of only four ingredients is made challenging only in thought ~ as too much gelatin will cause the dessert to turn out rubbery, and conversely, too little gelatin will cause the dessert to run forth onto the plate. By nature, panna cotta should be wobbly and voluptuous as a womens bosom which is not hard to achieve if you follow this simple methodology.

Serve elegantly plain or when summer berries are in abundance with a spoonful of these macerated goodies for a  sweet-tart contrast.

Ingredients

180gms white chocolate

600mls full cream

4 Tbs caster sugar

1 vanilla pod ~ scraped of its seeds

3 tsp / 10gms powdered gelatin

1/3 cup of boiling water

6x dariole moulds ~ lightly greased with non stick cooking spray

3 handfuls of fresh berries such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries.

2-4 Tbs caster sugar

1/4 cup of red wine, white wine or cider

Serves 6

Methodology

Into a heavy based saucepan place the white chocolate, cream, sugar and vanilla seeds.

Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly to ensure the mixture is smooth and does not begin to catch on the base of the pot. Remove from the heat and allow to sit for a couple of minutes to give the flavours time to get to know each other a little better.

Sprinkle the gelatin over the boiling water and wait a few minutes for the granules to dissolve.

Pour the gelatin liquid into the cream mixture and stir through to combine.

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve to remove any potential lumps, and then divide the mixture between the 6 moulds.

Lightly cover the moulds with cling film and allow to set in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours  ~ or overnight if need be.

Photo by ginnerobot

While the pannacotta are setting to their delicious jelly like state, you can prepare the berries to go with the dessert by heating them in small non-stick pan with 2 Tbs of caster sugar. Once you begin to smell the sugar caramelising slightly in the pan, add in a 1/4 cup of red wine, white wine or cider.

Allow the berries to come to a gentle boil so they begin to break down a touch and the flavour of the sauce begins to develop. Taste the sauce at this point ~ adding more sugar if the berries are particularly tart.

Remove the pan from the heat and leave the berries to sit and cool which once agian will help those wonderful flavours to shine through.

To serve your decadent dessert treat, unmold the panna cotta by running a sharp knife around the edge of the mould.

Hold the mould upside down in the palm of your hand and gentle shake the mould until the panna cotta comes loose and slides into your hand ~ now slid the dessert on to a deep dished plate and surround with berries and a spoon or two of the lovely berry sauce.

Photo by powerbooktrance

The Wonder Breakfast When Your on the GO!

Sweet nothings  can deny me  my favourite way to start the day… OK my SECOND favourite way to start the day ~ wink wink nudge nudge, nuff said.

I’m consciously aware of the importance of a hearty breakfast in our daily diet, but up until this point it has  eluded me in the physical sense. I’m either to busy, to lethargic  or too busy being lethargic .

I craved something tangible … I quick fix.

Something that was swift to prepare and easy to digest, would fill me up and was light and SUPER tasty.

The day that my Banana and Manuka Honey Smoothie slid into my life is a day I will never forget. It sums up breakfast on the go for me like toast and marmalade  could never do.

And did I mention the health benefits???

So here comes the wavier first.  Though I’m no doctor, the ingredients that make up this smoothie are good for your heart, kidney’s and bones that will help to enhance your mood if your feeling a little flat.

Along with the wonders of the Banana as mentioned above, you also have the added benefits of calcium rich yogurt with its benefical bacteria and your favourite super food and mine ~ Manuka honey.

Manuka honey is fabulously exclusive, thanks to it  being produced by bees that collect pollen from the Manuka trees that grow on the East coast of New Zealand.

This particular honey has all the benefits of normal honey plus the added bonus of being antibacterial and antiviral. In fact, Manuka honey is medical grade honey ~ great for wound healing, burns, wrinkles, acne and a myrid of other ailments.

For those of you similar to myself who like the idea of drinking your yogurt and bananas rather than chewing them ~ this is the Breakfast treat for you!

Banana and Manuka Honey Smoothie

~makes enough for 1 large glass

1 Banana ~ ripe and smooth, best to avoid unripe bananas  in a smoothie as it wont be as creamy

2 Tbs Greek yogurt

2 tsp Manuka honey

350mls of chilled apple juice

Place all ingredients into a blender and whizz until nicely combined and oh so smooth ~ie.

Photo by kthread

You know how  memories can sometimes be triggered by certain smells and distinct aromas?

The smell of freshly fallen  rain hitting hot asphalt is reminiscent of playing hide-and-go-seek with my older brothers and the neighborhood generation Y ~ running through our backyard until we heard the call that it was bed, bath or dinner time.

The sweet lingering smell of honeysuckle flowers brings back memories of my bedroom in our old house as the honeysuckle vine used to grow along  the side of the wall and almost come creeping through my window.

And nothing speaks volumes of summer more than the smell of succulent juicy peaches, ripe and tender, dangling from the tree patiently waiting to be plucked and devoured.

I’m taken back to beautiful memories of running through the peach orchard, picking as many of these wondrous fruit as my little plastic bucket could carry whilst constantly wiping away the peach juice dripping down my chin as I scoffed the warm golden globes.

Peaches  when in abundance  were treated in only a few ways in my household. They were left to eat as is, fuzz tickling the back of your throat, or they were preserved in heavy syrup for leaner times.

As I’ve grown into my chefs jacket, I’ve had the great fortune of being able to experiment with this delightful stone fruit and have given you a couple of my favorite ways with this summery sensation.

Photo by mccun934

Grilled peach crumbs with mascarpone and balsamic syrup

Ingredients:

2 large firm peaches ~ stoned and sliced in half

4 Tbs brown sugar

4 tsp butter ~ chilled

4 Tbs white flour

4 Tbs mascarpone

Balsamic glaze

Fresh mint leaves

Procedure:

• Make the crumb topping by mixing together the flour and brown sugar and rubbing the chilled butter in with your fingertips
• Lay the peach halves on a roasting tray and top with crumb mixture.
• Grill for 15-20 minutes on medium to high until the peach is tender and the crumb topping is golden and crisp.
• Lay two peach halves per plate and top with a dollop of mascarpone and a drizzle of balsamic syrup. Garnish with a few mint leaves and serve.

Serves 2 as dessert

photo by jules:stonesoup

Poached Peaches with honeyed chestnut cream and sticky meringue

Ingredients:

2 firm peaches ~ halved and stoned

¼ cup of chestnut puree

1- 2 Tbs of dark liquid honey

¼ cup of thickened cream

2 soft meringues ~ broken into pieces

1 liter of sugar syrup

Cinnamon sticks

Star anise

½ Vanilla pod ~ scraped

Procedure:

• Poach the peaches gently in the sugar syrup with a few cinnamon sticks, star anise and the vanilla pod until the peach is tender, but still in tact. This should take approx 20 minutes.
• Cool the peach slightly.
• Sweeten the chestnut puree by mixing into it 1 Tbs of the dark honey.
• Assemble the dessert by stacking peach, meringue, cream and chestnut puree into a wine glass or small glass bowl ~ remembering to watch the layers as you assemble so that the dessert looks appealing in its glass confines. Finish with a small drizzle of honey, a cinnamon stick and vanilla pod.

Serves 2 as dessert