cookeatblog.com » Sweet Things

Chocolate, Almond & Pear Tart

leej — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:00:20 +0000

This one turned out a bit of a treat. Theres a great bakery in Sydney that makes a small, individual version of this tart, and it became a favourite very quickly when I worked in the city – since I left that job I haven’t had one, so when I saw that the last of some pears I’d bought were ‘on the turn’, a little excited lightbulb went off in my head. The chocolate and almond filling to this tart is sublime! The pear cuts through the sweetness perfectly – the pastry slightly sweet and crumbly. The whole thing is just heavenly. And coming from a man who doesn’t eat many cakes, or much chocolate – it turns out to be one of my favorite things to eat – ever.

INGREDIENTS:
Pastry:
250g plain flour
125g unsalted butter (cold, and cubed)
1 egg
100g icing sugar

Filling:
125g almond meal
2 eggs
95g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter (melted)
1 teaspoon orange zest
90g good quality dark chocolate (melted)
2 pears (peeled and quartered)

DIRECTIONS:
In a food processor, combine the flour and icing sugar and pulse to aerate. Add the butter and process till you form a consistency of breadcrumbs. Whisk the egg with 3 tablespoons water and gradually pour into the flour with the motor running till it comes together in a clump.

Tip onto a floured surface and knead with your hands for 1-2 minutes. Roll into a large ball, cover in plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for 1 hour.

Halve the dough and roll out into a 3mm thick circle and then coat a lightly greased 20cm (loose bottom) tart tin. leave the edges overhanging slightly.

Freeze the remaining dough for another use.

Preheat oven to 190ºC – blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes, remove and set aside.

Turn down the oven to 170ºC

To make the filling:
In a food processor, combine the butter, almond meal, eggs and sugar and orange zest into a thick paste. Gradually pour in the melted chocolate and mix well.

Spoon the filling into the tart case and then press in the pear pieces in a circle. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.

SERVING:
Dust with a little soft icing sugar and serve with cream or ice cream. This is also absolutely perfect with a hot cup of coffee and an episode of ‘I Survived’ as I enjoyed this afternoon.

Makowiek – Polish Poppy Seed and Almond Roll

leej — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:00:30 +0000

On a cold cold afternoon up in the mountains, I was looking for something to occupy me. There’s something very comforting about baking on a wintery day so I settled on a recipe for this Polish rolled cake. Part cake, part bread it is absolutely fantastic. It’s easy to see why it’s one of the Poles most beloved cakes. Poppy seeds come to the fore as a delicious filling which is quite an unusual but absolutely perfect flavour combination. It’s sweet, but not too sweet – just the type of cake I love. The recipe makes two rolls which has so far ensured us a delicious slice of cake with every cup of tea or coffee for the last two days. As I type this recipe, I’m almost tearfully, eating the last slice.

INGREDIENTS:
For the dough:
300ml milk
80g unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg (beaten)
5 ½ cups plain flour

For the filling:
2 ¼ cups poppy seeds
generous 1/3 cup sugar
80g unsalted butter (cold)
1½ cups ground almonds
3 lemons (zest of)
4 tablespoons honey

Other:
1 egg white (lightly beaten)
Soft icing sugar (for dusting)

DIRECTIONS:
To make the dough:
Bring 250ml of the milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat, pour into a small bowl and stir in butter and 1/3 cup of sugar and leave to cool.

Pour the remaining milk into the pan and heat for about 40 seconds until warm. Stir in the 1 tablespoon of sugar, egg, yeast and 1 tablespoon of flour. Whisk until combined then leave in a warm place for 15 minutes to froth up.

Stir together the yeast mix and milk/butter mix then gradually add the flour until you have a dough. On a floured surface, knead the dough for about 2 minutes until it is smooth and springy. Pace back in the mixing bowl and cover. Leave in a warm place for 1 hour to allow it to double in size.

To make the filling:
Boil the poppy seeds in 500ml water for 45 minutes. Drain using some muslin, then either using a pestle and mortar, or a spice grinder, grind into a paste.

Rub together the ground almonds and butter into a wet breadcrumb consistency then mix this with the sugar, honey, lemon zest and poppy seed paste. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 190ºC / 375ºF

When the dough has proved for an hour, take out of the bowl and cut in half.

Roll one half into a rectangle about 40cm tall and 20cm wide. Spread half of the poppy seed mixture over the entire surface, then gently roll the short edge upwards to form a Swiss roll type shape. Gently press down to flatten slightly and place on a buttered baking sheet.

Repeat this process with the second portions of dough and filling.
Brush the surface with egg white then bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

SERVING:
Dust with icing sugar then cut into slices as you need them.

Funnel Cake

leej — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:00:13 +0000

I recently travelled around Southern USA. During the holiday I ventured into the beautiful Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and South Carolina straying through the marvelous Autumnal landscape to what, in my opinion, should be named one of the seven wonders of the modern World. I refer naturally to Dollywood! Theme park of the ageless icon that is Dolly Parton. The park was everything I dreamed of, great rides, beautiful location and rather surprisingly; excellent food. One such delicacy came in the form of funnel cake – a cake descending from the Pennsylvania Dutch Immigrants of the US and a food often to be found at fairs and public events. It’s a simple kind of doughnut batter which is deep fried to create a nest-like cake, packed full of crunchy delight with a generous dusting of sweet sugar and cinnamon. I ate mine just before I left the park and had to be forced to throw away the last quarter. I quite clearly wasn’t able to manage it, but was determined to try. It’s one of the tastiest sweet items I’ve ever tasted and I’m delighted to report that it’s magnificently easy to make yourself. You have to try this before you die.

INGREDIENTS:
1¾ cups plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1¼ cup milk + more if necessary

Canola oil (for deep frying)
Soft icing sugar (for dusting)
Powdered cinnamon (for dusting)

DIRECTIONS:
Sieve together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate soda, sugar and slat. Mix together the egg and milk then stir into the flour, stir into a smooth consistency (like pourable thick cream) – add more milk if needed.

Heat 4cm oil in a deep frying pan or wok until hot but not smoking.

Using a large funnel, put your finger over the hole and pour in half the batter mix. Ramove your thumb to release the batter into the oil. As it pours, create circular shapes to create a higglety pigglety ‘nest’. Let this fry for 30-50 seconds until golden brown. Using a fish slice, turn the cake over and let it brown on the other side. Remove and drain on paper towels. Place on a serving plate and dust generously with cinnamon and icing sugar and serve immediately.

SERVING:
Serve on its own with the dusted sugar and cinnamon or you can also serve a splodge of jam in the centre. You can also add a nice dollop of stewed apples to the centre too. But on its own with sugar is just fine.

Pineapple Sorbet

leej — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 14:00:56 +0000

I bought an ice cream maker. It was a hot balmy day in Sydney, and I was out driving. I parked next to a kitchen store on my way to buy some food and had a quick look round. Two minutes later I walked out with a whisk and an ice cream maker. On arrival back home I immediately set out to make this sorbet. Naturally, not reading the instruction booklet, I hadn’t realised that I was supposed to freeze the bowl for 24 hours before use, so I sat patiently waiting for this Pineapple sorbet to eventually go cold – which it didn’t. Eventually after reading the instructions and freezing the bowl (24 hours later) this delicious sorbet was ready. It was worth the wait – sweet, delicious and cooling! Lovely.

INGREDIENTS:
1 small pineapple (peeled, cored and chopped)
½ cup sugar
1 lemon (juice of)

DIRECTIONS:
In a food processor, blend until smooth the pineapple, sugar and lemon juice. Pass through a fine sieve and discard the solids. Pour the mixture into a chilled ice-cream maker and churn for 25 minutes until the sorbet is formed. Remove from the bowl into a plastic container and seal. Freeze for another hour to firm up before serving.

SERVING:
I served mine on its own.

Strawberries & Oranges Macerated in Brandy and Cinnamon

leej — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:00:29 +0000

Strawberries are delicious, I don’t know anyone who would argue with that. I love them just as they are mostly, but sometimes I like to give them a boost in flavour by soaking them in alcohol – it brings out the sweetness and creates a quite delicious result! Oranges and strawberries work well together and when you combine them with a little brandy, lemon juice and a hint of cinnamon they work even better.

INGREDIENTS: (serves 2-3)
1 punnet fresh strawberries
2 large oranges (peeled and segmented)
½ lemon (juice of)
2 tablespoons brandy
½ tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
Slice the strawberries and combine with the orange segments. Squeeze over the lemon juice then sprinkle over the brandy, sugar and cinnamon. Stir well to combine then leave for 1 hour in the fridge for the flavours to fully develop.

SERVING:
Serve on its own or over vanilla ice cream.

Spanish Orange Cake

leej — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:00:25 +0000

Fans of the site will know that I occasionally stray from the wonders of lamb and beef and anything spicy to make a cake! Yes readers – I sometimes have the urge to go Suzy homemaker and whip up something sweet. Today I made a very easy cake using one of my favourite Spanish cookbooks as inspiration. The resulting cake “was” (as that is already past tense only 5 hours later) absolutely delicious. Oranges are one of my favourite fruits and this makes great use of them – a light, fluffy citrus burst of flavour. Perfect.

INGREDIENTS:
2 large oranges
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup plain olive oil (not extra virgin)
2 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 175ºC
Lightly grease an 8″ baking ring.
Zest one of the oranges and set aside.
Squeeze the juice from the oranges until you have 250ml (1 cup) of juice. Drink the rest!

Whisk the eggs until light and fluffy then add the sugar gradually, beating with a wooden spoon. Add the orange zest and olive oil and beat further, then the orange juice and beat some more. Add the flour, a cup at a time and beat thoroughly to make sure it’s well combined. Finally, beat in the baking powder.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes then turn out to a wire cooling rack.

SERVING:
Dust with a little icing sugar and/or ground cinnamon if you feel the urge – but it’s pretty damn tasty all on its own with the obligatory cup of coffee.

Italian Breakfast Marble Cake

leej — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:00:22 +0000

I love a marble cake. It reminds me of my childhood. Nothing is better than a slab of this cake with a large cup of coffee. The cake’s perfect for me as it’s actually not too sweet – the perfect combination of chocolate with slight hints of citrus from the lemon. It’s a fabulous treat, any time of the day, but best served on a monday morning just before I head off for another week at work!

INGREDIENTS:
4 eggs (separated)
200g caster sugar
100g plain flour
1 lemon (zest of)
1 tablespoon baking powder
200g almond meal
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg white (whisked till stiff peaks)
pinch salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 180ºC. Butter a 20cm ring or a medium loaf tin, then coat with flour.
Whisk the 4 egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add the yolks and sugar and whisk again till smooth. Sieve and stir in the flour, then stir in the lemon zest, almond meal, olive oil and baking powder. Spoon out half the mixture into another bowl. To this bowl, mix in the remaining beaten egg white, cocoa and milk. Now add 3-4 dollops of white mix to the bottom of your ring tin, then add 4 random dollops of brown mix – and so on till all the mixes is used. Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a knife comes out clean when inserted. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before turning out on a cooling rack to cool completely.

SERVING:
Great for breakfast, but just as good any time of the day with a cup of coffee.

Fresh Limeade

leej — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:00:45 +0000

I’d just finished reading a weather report from my home country, The UK, and taken no pleasure in seeing they were basking in -9ºC temperatures. Here in Sydney we were experiencing 38ºC and humid as can be and it was equally as unpleasant. I’d just returned from a sweaty trip to the Sydney Markets where I’d bought a huge bag of limes. Limeade has healing powers in any weather. It’s by far my preference to lemonade – limes are so much more interesting. This drink, as simple as it is to make, is impressive in many ways. Not only is it guaranteed to quench your thirst – if you make a large jug, then casually bring it out of the fridge in front of friends and they’ll secretly be in awe of your domestic prowess.

INGREDIENTS:
250ml freshly squeezed lime juice
2/3 – 1 cup sugar (adjust depending on how sweet you like it)
1 lime (finely sliced)
Ice

DIRECTIONS:
Add the sugar along with 1 litre of water to a pan and heat over a moderate heat. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and leave for a few minutes.

In a large jug, pour in the lime juice along with the sugar water and lime slices. Stir well, then place in the fridge for 1 hour to cool.

SERVING:
Pour into glasses with lots of ice. This is also nice with a shot of vodka or gin if you’re in the mood.

Spiced Dough Pillows

leej — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:00:06 +0000

These gorgeous Spanish treats are just perfect on a lazy afternoon with a cup of coffee, which is exactly how I enjoyed them today. Not all of them but a fair few! The raw dough will freeze though so it’s a great one to have on hand if you’re in need of a quick sugar hit. The flavour is a great blend of sweet and spice which is very agreeable to me as I don’t much like things that are too sweet. That said, I can imagine these would be great dipped into some warm chocolate – I’ve inspired myself to defrost the remaining dough…

INGREDIENTS:
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons melted butter (unsalted)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon baking powder

vegetable oil (for frying)
caster sugar (for coating)

DIRECTIONS:
Beat together the egg and sugar until light and fluffy (about 15 minutes). In a separate bowl combine the flour, cloves, fennel, nutmeg, salt and baking powder. Sieve into the egg mixture then stir to combine. Gather the mix with your hands to form a ball and knead it for 4-5 minutes adding a little flour until it’s not tacky anymore. Don’t add too much flour or the mix will become too dry. Roll to a thickness of about 2cm then cut vertically into strips about 5cm then horizontally in 5cm gaps to form little squares. Gather together the odd shaped bits and redo them to form little squares till you’re happily squared up! Cover and sit for 20 minutes to let the dough settle.

Heat about 3cm of oil in a medium saucepan until hot but not smoking. Drop in a few squares and let them cook till browned, turn over and cook again. Drain on paper towels for a minute then toss into a bowl of caster sugar to coat. Repeat the process for the remaining pillows.

SERVING:
A must with a cup of coffee! Best served the same day, even better just out of the frying pan once it’s cooled slightly.

Simple Chocolate Cake

leej — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:00:15 +0000

Easy is the operative word for this cake. I haven’t got the patience for faffing about with cakes normally, but I was cleaning out my cupboards this morning and noticed an abundance of duplicate ingredients. I had to get rid of them somehow so settled on a tried and tested recipe which never fails. This cake is easy and the results are light and fluffy with with a deliciously rich streak running through its centre. A perfect accompaniment to a Sunday afternoon cup of tea in front of The Antiques Roadshow. I’m old before my time…

INGREDIENTS:
For the cake:
2 cups self-raising flour
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole fat milk
2 tablespoons melted butter

For the icing:
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons melted butter

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 180ºC.

Sieve the flour, sugar and cocoa into a mixing bowl add the eggs and milk and beat together with a mixer for 2 minutes. Add the butter and beat again until completely mixed.

Pour into a 23cm lightly buttered non-stick cake tin. Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer, when pierced into the centre comes out clean. Turn out and cool.

To make the icing:
Sieve the sugar and cocoa into a bowl add the butter and 2-4 tablespoons warm water and mix together until you have a smooth consistency.

Cut the cake in half to create 2 circular discs. Spread the icing over the bottom cake then return to top half. Dust with a little icing sugar and serve.