Sorbet

vanilla almond buiscuits

 

Vietnamese sweet potatoe curry

 

Swiss Meringues

 

Lamb Burgers

 

Chocolate Surprise cake

 

Vegetable fried Rice

 

Delicious choc-chip muffind

 

Pesto Pasta

Vietnamese chicken and sweet-potatoe curry

chicken souvlaki wraps

Panna Cotta

Panna Cotta

This is a recipe for Panna Cotta Dessert with a berry sauce.

Prepare the panna Cotta dessert a day or two before needed. This recipe makes  8 small servings.

Equipment

For the panna cotta you will need:-

A stovetop

A saucepan

A microwave oven

A measuring jug

Two 250ml cups

A large spoon for stirring

3 Tablespoons

2 teaspoons

8 small tea cups or ramekins (small round bowls)

A small bowl which is suitable for the microwave

A jug to pour from

For the berry sauce you will need:-

A stovetop

A medium size saucepan

A food processor or potato masher

2 Tablespoons

Ingredients

For the panna cotta

1 Tablespoon of gelatin

3 Tablespoons of cold water

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

250ml of single (ordinary) cream

250ml of cream cheese

80ml of full cream milk

Three quarters of a cup of sugar

For the berry sauce you will need:-

1 cup of mixed frozen berries. Any kind you like which are available, for instance Blackberries, blueberries, strawberries or raspberries

2 Tablespoons of castor sugar

1 stick of cinnamon

1 rooibos (red bush) tea bag

Fresh mint leaves to garnish, if desired

Method

Find a clean, clear working space in the kitchen

Gather all the equipment and ingredients together

To make the panna cotta:-

Measure out three tablespoons of cold water into a small microwaveable bowl

Sprinkle 3 teaspoons of gelatin on top and leave it to stand for a few minutes until the gelatin is spongy in texture

Turn the stovetop on to a medium heat

Take the saucepan and pour the cream, milk, vanilla essence and cream cheese. Add the sugar

Heat until the sugar is dissolved. Leave everything in the pan and turn off the stove

Microwave the gelatin and water mixture for a few SECONDS until it looks clear

Stir the gelatin into the cream mixture and gently pour it into a jug. Pour from the jug into the small tea cups.

Carefully place the tea cups into the fridge

Method for the berry sauce:-

Make the berry sauce whilst the panna cotta is setting.

You will use it to put on top of the panna cotta in the cups

Put the stovetop on

Take a medium size saucepan and put all the ingredients into it.

Heat on gentle heat until the berries are soft

Turn off the stove

Remove and throw away the cinnamon stick and tea bag

Mash the berries with a potato masher or put them into a food processor and blast (if you have one)

Allow to cool

To Serve:-

Remove the set Panna Cotta cups from the fridge and top the desserts with the berry mixture. Garnish with fresh mint leaves if desired

Bobotie

Tiramisu

Tiramisu

This is a very grown-up dessert. It contains alcohol. Not optional

Equipment

-         A long, shallow, glass dish

-         A food scale

-         An electric beater

-         A sieve

-         A cup measure

-         A measuring jug

-         3 Tablespoons and a large spoon for mixing

-         A coffee maker if you have one, or a kettle to make espresso coffee

-         A mixing bowl

-         6 small serving dishes

Ingredients

-         Sponge fingers (also known as Boudoir Biscuits or Ladies fingers) x 16

-          Strong Espresso coffee – 250ml

-         Rum x 3 Tablespoons (dark rum works best)

-         Mascarpone cheese – 500 grams

-         Double cream – 300ml

-         Icing sugar – 4 Tablespoons

-         Cocoa powder – for dusting the top of the finished dessert

-         Marsala – 4 Tablespoons

Method

-         Weigh and measure all your ingredients. Gather Equipment.

-         Place the sponge fingers in a bowl large enough to arrange them in a  single layer

-         Make some espresso coffee. Either in a coffee machine or in a cup

-         Let the coffee cool then add 3 Tablespoons of Dark Rum.

-          Drizzle evenly over sponge fingers

-         Set aside to soak in

-         Place 500grams of mascarpone in a bowl

Beat the double cream and 4 Tablespoons of Marsala into the mascarpone. Marsala is a kind of sweet sherry

Sieve in the icing sugar and stir well

Take the 6 small serving dishes (or glasses if you wish) and layer up the sponge fingers and cream, repeating until the serving containers are full.

Finish with a layer of cream and dust with a sprinkling of cocoa powder.

      

Kartoffelpuffer (German Potato Pancakes)

Ingredients:

6 medium-size potatoes, washed, peeled and shredded
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
vegetable oil for frying
toppings (recipes below)

Directions:

1. Combine potatoes, beaten eggs, flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl and stir well, until flour is no longer visible.
2. Heat 1 inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet, and use a 1/4 cup measure to scoop three piles of potato mixture into hot oil. Let fry on medium-high heat about until golden brown, about 3 minutes.
3. Turn pancakes and press down with a spatula, flattening them as much as possible. Fry until golden brown, and remove onto paper towels. Repeat with remaining potato mixture.
4. Serve pancakes immediately.  

Moist triple chocolate cake

Moist triple chocolate cake

180g self-raising flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g caster sugar
50g soft light brown sugar
2 eggs
150ml sunflower/vegetable oil
150ml full-fat milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180C or 160Fan, and grease & line three 8 inch baking tins.
For the cake, the recipe can't be easier. Throw all the ingredients into a bowl and mix until well combined.
Pour the cake mixture evenly between the three baking tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cake is soft, and bounces back when you push your finger gently into it.
Frosting:
FROSTING
400g dark chocolate
250ml double cream
50g chocolate spread (from a jar)
To make the frosting, break the chocolate into small pieces and place into a microwaveable bowl. Add the double cream and the chocolate spread and microwave in 30 second bursts. After every 30 seconds, give the mixture a stir. Be careful not too overheat otherwise the chocolate will burn and split. Once the chocolate has melted into the cream mixture, mix well then place into the fridge for about half an hour to 45 minutes to set. It should be relatively thick, but still soft enough to lift with a palette knife with ease.
Filling:
300ml double cream
1 tbp white chocolate hot chocolate powder (if you don't have this, replace it with a tsp of vanilla paste, or shavings of white chocolate)
1 tsp icing sugar
Add the double cream, white chocolate powder and the icing sugar into a bowl and whisk until you get soft peaks. Don't be tempted to over whisk. Once the cake has been baked and cooled, place one layer onto your serving dish. Add half of the cream mixture and spread evenly. Place another cake layer, and then the rest of the cream on top. Place the final cake layer on top, then bring your chocolate frosting over. Using a palette knife, frost the top of the cake, followed by the sides, ensuring it is all covered. Be gentle, otherwise you'll get cake crumbs all over your frosting. To get the smooth sides, wet your palette knife with hot water, then run it smoothly across the sides. To get the wavy frosting on top, place some frosting on the back of a spoon and gently place on top of the cake.

Almond Tart

This makes a change from the usual creamy, rich, chocolatey desserts.

It is good served for tea or anytime.

Equipment

A food processor if you have one

2 mixing bowls

Kitchen scale

Egg separator

Electric beater

A cup to put the eggs in

Cling film and wax paper

An oven

A grater

A sharp knife and chopping board

Baking beans or uncooked kidney beans or rice

A loose bottomed, fluted flan tin (that’s the one with the crinkly sides)

A cooling rack

A small bowl to put the almonds into

A kitchen scale

Ingredients

For the pastry

-         For the pastry you will need:-

-         350g plain flour

-         Pinch salt

-         225 grams cold unsalted butter.

-         100grams icing sugar

-         3 egg yolks

For the filling:-

-         350 grams softened unsalted butter

A tip to soften butter: Fill a glass jug with boiling water, leave it to stand for five minutes before pouring the water out; then enclose the butter in the steamed-up jug for a few minutes

-         350 grams castor sugar

-         350 grams ground almonds

-         4 eggs

For serving: Red currants, strawberries or seasonal fresh berries

Method

Clear a space on your kitchen counter and make sure it’s clean.

Gather all the ingredients and equipment.

As ever when working with food, ensure your hands are clean, but particularly so with this recipe as you will be using your fingers to mix the pastry, if you do not have a food processor.

-         Mix the flour, salt and butter by hand, or in a processor, till the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs

-         Add the sugar. Break the eggs one at a time and separate the yolks from the whites. Set aside the whites.

-         Put the egg yolks into the flour, mix in well with a spoon or process again with the food processor. Shape into a pastry ball.

-         Wrap pastry ball in clingfilm

-         Chill pastry for at least an hour

-         Pre-heat the oven to180 deg C.

-         Remove the pastry from the fridge and coarsely grate it.

-         Grease the flan tin with a little butter and greaseproof paper

-         Press the pastry into the prepared flan tin

-         Bake blind – which means bake to make a pastry shell for the filling to go in. To do this put greaseproof (wax) paper over the pastry at the bottom of the flan tin and weigh it down with plenty of dry uncooked kidney beans, rice or baking beans.

-         Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

-         Carefully remove from the oven (use oven gloves if you have them, or a tea towel to protect your hands)

-         Put onto a wire cooling rack

-         Reduce the oven to 150 degrees C.

For the filling:-

Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and cream together until light and fluffy.

Combine the butter mix, almonds and eggs, adding each egg one at a time.

Remove the paper and beans from the pastry case. Discard them

Pour the filling mixture into the pastry case and bake for 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven.

Turn the oven off

Let the tart cool and serve with the berries (wash berries under cold water before using)

Lemon Cheesecake

Equipment

-        500 ml measuring jug (two cups)

-       Small saucepan

-       Larger saucepan

-       Egg separator

-       Whisk

-       2 cups for the eggs

-       Grater

-       Large spoon to stir and a dessertspoon to measure sugar + a tablespoon

-       Small container (bowl or cup) for lemon juice

-       Rolling pin to crush biscuits and a big clear plastic bag or food processor with chopping blade

-       8 cm round cake tin with a fixed base

-       Chopping board or flat plate to grate lemon on and 3 saucers

Ingredients

-        1 lemon flavoured jelly

-         2 large eggs

-         125 ml of milk (half a cup)

-          2 large lemons

-          325 gram tub of smooth cottage or cream cheese

-          1 dessertspoon sugar

-          3 tablespoons double cream (thick cream)

-          100grams gingernut biscuits

-           50grams of butter

-          A few strawberries for decoration and a few mint leaves if you like

Method

-       Gather all your ingredients together

-       Open the packet of jelly and put the jelly into small saucepan. Throw packet away.

-       Measure the milk into a jug.

-       Take the lid off the cottage cheese.Throw away the lid

-       Measure 1 dessertful of sugar onto a saucer

-       Measure 3 tablespoons of thick cream onto a saucer.

-       Open the biscuits. Measure 100grams. Put rest away

-       Measure 50 grams of butter onto a saucer

-       Separate the eggs. Put whites into one bowl and yellows into another.

-       You can use an egg separator. Put it over a cup and crack the first egg into it. The yolk (yellow part) will stay in the separator and the white will drop into the cup. Do this with both eggs.

-       You can also separate eggs by cracking the egg in two halves and keeping the yellow in the shell and letting the white slip into a bowl or cup but this is very tricky

-       Grate the rind (yellow skin) from the lemons. Save it. Squeeze out the juice into a cup or small bowl

-       Put the pan with the jelly onto the stove on a low heat. Put 4 tablespoons of cold water into it and stir all the time until the jelly melts

-       Put the egg yolks (yellows) into a small mixing bowl with the milk and whisk them together

-       Pour the egg and milk mixture into the jelly in the pan on the stove. Stir and simmer (cook on a very low heat) for 4 minutes. Do not let it boil. Add the lemon juice and the lemon rind (yellow skin) Be careful not to get any pips in from the lemon as they taste bitter and you do not use them

-       Pour the contents of the pan into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the cheese Blend together until smooth, add the sugar bit by bit. Allow to cool

-       Whisk the egg whites with an electric beater until they are stiff and fold them into the cheese mixture. To fold in means to turn them over gently with a spoon until they are mixed in

-       Add the cream. Gently fold everything together

-       Pour the mixture into the cake tin and put it into the fridge for two to three hours to set.

-       Take the ginger biscuits and crush them. You can do this in a food processor with a blade if you have one or by breaking them up as small as you can and put them into a clear, clean plastic bag. Take a rolling pin and crush them

-       Melt the butter in a pan. Add the biscuits to the melted butter and stir them into the butter.. Take the cheesecake out of the fridge and press the biscuit mixture all over the top of the cheesecake

-       Put it back into the fridge to chill.

-       Wash the strawberries in cold water. Carefully slice them.

-       Finally take the cheesecake out of the fridge and turn it over very carefully onto a large plate. The tin will come away and the biscuits will be at the bottom of the cheesecake. Now decorate it with the strawberry slices (and a few fresh mint leaves if you like)

   

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