seasons greetings

seasons greetings

24 Dec 2018

It's been a long and tiring year so I'll be taking a short break from blogging and hope to see you all again January 7, 2019.

Wishing you all the best for the festive season. By the way, if you'd like the recipe for this fruit mince star bread it can be found here.

Bye for now,

Jillian

Read more

xmas 2018 - mangomisu

xmas 2018 - mangomisu

21 Dec 2018

Welcome to Day 5, the last day of Christmas Week. I've had this recipe for Mangomisu bookmarked for ever.



When mangoes and passionfruit started to appear in the fruit shop, I decided it was high time I made a mangomisu for this year's Christmas week. I went to the grocery store and came back with a huge package of savoiardi, enough to make 2 mangomisus, a container of mascarpone and some cream and I was good to go. As there is no cooking involved, it's hard to describe making this as baking, so we'll call it an assemblage.




I tweaked the recipe a bit based on some of the comments and the need to make it alcohol free for my work place. Although there's no baking involved, this isn't something you can throw together at the last minutes as the mangomisu needs to set for at least 2 hours before serving.

Here's the recipe for you. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs.

Mangomisu
Ingredients
1 egg yolk
35g pure icing sugar, sifted
300ml thickened cream
250g good-quality mascarpone cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 small mangoes, flesh sliced ½ cm thick
Juice of 2 oranges – 150mls
¼ cup passionfruit pulp
18 small savoiardi (sponge finger biscuits)

To decorate
1 passionfruit
1 punnet raspberries

Method
Line the base of a loaf pan (23cm x 10cm) with plastic wrap, foil or baking paper, leaving 2 cm overhanging.

Place the egg yolk and icing sugar, thickened cream, mascarpone and vanilla extract in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on high speed until stiff and well combined. Chill until needed.

Combine the orange juice and passionfruit pulp in the bowl of a food processor and whiz for a few seconds to separate the pulp from the seeds. Pour the juice through a fine sieve in a separate bowl. 

Dip a third of the sponge fingers into the juice mixture and layer in the base of the prepared pan. Spread with one-third of the mascarpone mixture, and top with one-third of the mango slices. Repeat the process, then top with the remaining mascarpone mixture, reserving the remaining mango slices to serve. Cover the cake and chill for 2 hours or overnight until firm.





To serve, carefully remove the mangomisu from cake pan and transfer the mangomisu to a platter. (I just trimmed the foil around the mangomisu once it was safely on the platter). Decorate with curls of the reserved mango and a few fresh raspberries then serve topped with passionfruit pulp.

Stand back and watch this disappear. This was an absolute hit at work and as I still have loads of sponge fingers spare, I have plans to make a berrymisu version in the New Year.

See you all again on Monday for my final post of the year.

Bye for now,

Jillian

Read more

xmas 2018 - rhubarb and ricotta tart

xmas 2018 - rhubarb and ricotta tart

20 Dec 2018

Welcome to Day 4 of Christmas Week 2018. Originally I'd planned to make a raspberry frangipane tart for this year's Christmas Week inspired by one I tried in Paris. Whilst looking through my copy of Flour and Stone I saw a photograph of a rhubarb and ricotta tart and soon changed my mind. I have a love for rhubarb and these days it's always available at my local fruit shop so inspired by the image, I decided to work on my own version. 



I used my almond shortcrust pastry for the base and the filling is an adaptation of the filling from the lemon ricotta tart. The oven baked rhubarb is another tried and true recipe. The quantity needed to top the tart is quite small so store the leftovers in the fridge and use it to top your muesli or as a dessert.



Here's the recipe for you. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.



Rhubarb and Ricotta Tart – makes an oblong 10 x 30cm tart
Oven Roasted Rhubarb 
1 bunch rhubarb, stalks washed and trimmed
4 tablespoons caster sugar
The juice of half an orange
2 strips of orange rind, each strip ~ 5cm long
1 cinnamon stick

Pastry 
¼ cup icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
¼ cup almond meal
1⅓ cups plain flour
110 g (4 oz) cold unsalted butter, diced
1 egg, lightly beaten
Cold water

Filling
150g fresh ricotta cheese
100g cream cheese at room temperature
50g mascarpone
⅓ cup caster sugar plus 1 additional tbs
2 eggs, separated
2 tsp grated orange rind 

To serve
250 mls thickened cream whipped to soft peaks

Oven roasted rhubarb
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Cut the rhubarb stalks into 10cm lengths and place into a baking dish with the orange rind and the cinnamon stick. Sprinkle with the sugar and drizzle the rhubarb with the orange juice. Cover the dish with foil or a lid and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the rhubarb is cooked but still holds its shape. Remove the dish from the oven and allow the rhubarb to cool. When cool, remove the cinnamon stick (it can be washed and used again) and store the rhubarb in a sealed container in the fridge. You won’t need all the rhubarb for this recipe.

Pastry
To make the pastry, combine all the dry ingredients in a food processor, and whiz for a few seconds until well combined and free of lumps. Add the cold butter and whiz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and sufficient cold water and whiz until a soft dough just starts to form around the blade. Remove the dough from the food processor and gather the pastry into a ball; flatten slightly before wrapping in plastic and placing in the fridge. Refrigerate the pastry for 30 minutes. You’ll only need about half of the pastry dough for this recipe. The pastry freezes well so just wrap the remaining pastry in plastic wrap and store in the freezer.

Grease a 10 x 30cm flan tin and place it on an oven tray. Line the tin with pastry, trim the edges then refrigerate for a further 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 190°C. Cover the pastry with a sheet of baking paper and fill the shell with baking beads or rice and blind bake for 10-15 minutes. Carefully remove the paper and beans from the pastry case and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes or until golden brown and the base is dry. If any cracks occur in the pastry, you can patch the holes with some leftover pastry.

Make the filling while the pastry is baking. Place the cheeses in the food processor and process until smooth. Add ⅓ cup caster sugar, the egg yolks and the orange rind and process again. In a clean dry bowl beat the egg whites until stiff. Add the extra tablespoon of sugar and beat until glossy. Pour the cheese mixture over the egg whites and gently fold together. Reduce the oven temperature to 170°C. Put the flan tin into the oven then carefully pour in the ricotta filling – you’ll have a little filling left over. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the filling has puffed and is just set. The tart should still have a wobble in the centre when you jiggle the tin. It will continue to cook and firm up when it is out of the oven and cooling. 

Allow to cool completely before decorating the top of the tart with the whipped cream and the rhubarb slices.



I know there are lots of steps in this recipe, but both the pastry and oven roasted rhubarb can be made in advance and the filling takes no time at all to prepare. I think it's worth the effort. When I took this into work,it was an absolute hit with my work mates. 

See you all tomorrow with the last of my Christmas Week bakes.

Bye for now,

Jillian

Read more

xmas 2018 - chocolate orange tart

xmas 2018 - chocolate orange tart

19 Dec 2018

Welcome to Day 3 of Christmas Week. I was looking through Sweet by Ottolenghi and Helen Goh and saw a photo of some little baked chocolate tarts. The tarts have a sweet surprise of either marmalade or tahini in the base. I'm not a huge tahini fan but I knew I had a pot of blood orange marmalade lurking in one of my cupboards. I located the pot of marmalade then put my thinking cap on and wondered if I could make a larger chocolate tart using the 17cm tart ring I'd carefully carried home from Paris.  



I used my favourite chocolate pastry recipe for the shell, then spooned some marmalade into the pre-cooked base. I then topped the marmalade with my favourite chocolate custard filling before baking the filling until it had just set. As I'd not made the tart before, I took it into work with my fingers crossed. I shouldn't have worried because the tart was a triumph - crisp chocolate pastry, silky smooth filling with a marmalade surprise in the base. I was going to candy some orange slices for decoration but instead bought a bag of chocolate dipped orange slices online. 



Here's the recipe for you which makes a 3 cm deep 17cm tart. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.




Chocolate Orange Tart Recipe - makes a 17cm tart
Chocolate Pastry
225 g (8 oz) plain flour
25 gm (¼ cup) cocoa 
125 g (4½ oz) unsalted butter chilled and cubed 
85 g (3 oz) caster sugar
1 egg, beaten

Filling
225g good-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
2 eggs
150ml thickened cream, plus extra whipped cream to serve (optional)
100ml milk
½ cup orange marmalade

Topping
Cocoa powder
Chocolate orange slices (optional)
Whipped cream

Pastry
Place the flour, cocoa, butter and sugar in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Gradually add the beaten egg until the dough starts to gather around the blade of the processor. Remove the dough and bring together into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes. You won’t need all the pastry so freeze the leftovers for later use. 

Method
Lightly grease a 17 x 3 cm tart pan. Roll pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper to 5mm thick, then use to line pan. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line the pastry with baking paper and pastry weights or uncooked rice. Blind-bake for 20 minutes, then remove paper and weights and bake for 10 minutes or until pastry is dry. Set to one side until cool. If there are any cracks in the pastry, repair the cracks with some of the leftover dough.

Reduce oven to 150°C. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, not letting bowl touch water. Allow to melt and then stir until smooth. Remove from heat and cool. Gently whisk eggs in a separate bowl to just combine (don't allow to froth).

Heat cream and milk in a saucepan over medium heat until just below boiling point and then pour over eggs, stirring. Return to pan over low heat and stir for about 5 minutes until thick. Pour the custard through a sieve over bowl of chocolate, stirring gently until smooth.



Spread the marmalade over the base of the cooled pastry shell. Pour over the chocolate custard, then bake for 10-15 minutes or until just set. Leave tart in switched-off oven for 1 hour with the door closed. Remove and cool completely before slicing. If desired, top with a dusting of cocoa powder and a chocolate dipped orange slice with some whipped cream on the side.




It was a bit of a fiddle making the tart but I think the end result was worth the effort.

See you all again tomorrow for Day 4 of Christmas Week.

By for now,

Jillian

Read more

xmas 2018 - white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake

xmas 2018 - white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake

18 Dec 2018

Welcome to Day 2 of Christmas Week 2018. A few years ago I bookmarked a recipe for a white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake. When I finally made it, I was really disappointed with the result. I cooked the cheesecake in a water bath without pre-baking the crust, so the crust was really pale. The filling was too set for my liking and all the raspberries floated to the top. The filling tasted more of white chocolate than cheesecake so I went back to the drawing board and rejigged the recipe.



This time I pre-baked the crust, discarded the water bath and baked the cheesecake in the oven. Although the cheesecake cracked while cooling in the switched off oven, I didn't mind a bit because it tasted as I hoped it would and I'd always planned to cover the cake with a layer of cream and raspberries.



Here's the rejigged recipe for you. Ideally start this recipe the day before serving as the cheesecake needs time to cool. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. If you'd like to make a 23 cm cheesecake, just double all the ingredients and cook for the same length of time.

White chocolate and raspberry cheesecake - makes a 17cm cheesecake.

Base 

55 grams unsalted butter 

1 tbs caster sugar 

½ cup plain flour  

¼ tsp vanilla

Filling 

60g white chocolate, chopped

60mls cream

375 gram cream cheese, softened 

⅓ cup caster sugar 

1 tsp cornflour

1 egg 

1 egg yolk 

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

½ tsp grated lemon rind

150g raspberries, fresh or frozen 

Topping

½ cup double cream or whipped thickened cream

Extra raspberries

Icing sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease and line the base and sides of a 17 cm spring-form tin with baking paper. 

Place the butter, sugar, flour and vanilla into a food processor and whiz until a soft dough forms.  Remove the dough from the processor and gently press the mixture into the base of the spring-form tin. Bake the shortbread base in the preheated 180°C oven for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden. Set to one side and allow the base to cool. 

Filling

Heat the cream until just boiling in a small bowl in the microwave. Add the chopped white chocolate and allow to melt. Stir until smooth then set aside until cool.

Put the cream cheese, the caster sugar and the cornflour in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until smooth.  Add the egg, the yolk, the vanilla, the lemon rind and the cooled white chocolate mixture and blend until smooth. 

Sprinkle a few of the raspberries over the base. Pour half the filling over the cooked base; sprinkle the remaining raspberries before topping with the rest of the cheesecake mixture. Lower the oven temperature to 170°C then bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until the filling is almost set. Turn off the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool in the turned off oven for an hour. When completely cool, store the cheesecake in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours or preferably overnight.

To serve cover with some double cream or whipped thickened cream before topping with a fe fresh berries and a light dusting of icing sugar.

See you all again tomorrow for Day 3 of Christmas week.

Bye for now,

Jillian

Read more

xmas 2018 - pistachio orange semolina cake

xmas 2018 - pistachio orange semolina cake

17 Dec 2018

2018 has been very challenging so in September I made the decision to skip Christmas week. However I soon discovered the only thing that brought me peace was baking and soon I'd baked so many items I had no option but to reinstate Christmas week. So welcome to Christmas week 2018. There isn't a theme as such this year except I can assure you that everything is very tasty. Some of the bakes do require a bit more effort or more luxurious ingredients than usual, but then again it's Christmas.



This pistachio and orange semolina cake is adapted from the Pistachio and rosewater semolina cake recipe from Sweet by Ottolenghi and Helen Goh. I'm not a huge fan of cardamom and I didn't want to buy a bottle of rosewater that I was unlikely to use again so I swapped it for the pomegranate molasses syrup that I already had in the cupboard. To decorate the cake I used candied orange rind instead of sugared rose petals.



I also used blood oranges in the cake because they were in season but a regular orange or mandarin would work just as well.

Here's the recipe for you for this deliciously moist cake. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. This recipe makes a 17cm cake so if you'd like to make a 23cm cake, just double all the ingredients and bake for the same time. 



Pistachio, orange semolina cake, adapted from Sweet
Ingredients
75g pistachios, plus extra chopped pistachios to serve
50g almond meal
60g fine semolina
25g plain flour
¾ tsp baking powder
pinch salt
150g unsalted butter, chopped, softened
¾ cup caster sugar
2 tsp finely grated orange rind, plus 1 tbs orange juice 
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbs pomegranate molasses
½ tsp vanilla

Syrup
1 tbs water
2 tbs caster sugar
50 ml orange juice
20 mls pomegranate molasses

Candied orange rind – optional
1 orange, rind removed and finely sliced
¼ cup water
¼ cup caster sugar
Additional caster sugar for coating

Method
Grease a 17cm springform cake pan and line with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180°C.

To make the cake, place pistachios in a food processor and whiz until pistachios are nearly ground. Transfer pistachio mixture to a bowl and add almond meal, semolina, the flour, baking powder and a pinch of fine salt. Stir to combine.

Place butter, sugar and orange zest in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until well combined (be careful not to overwork – you don’t want a lot of air in the mixture). With the motor running, slowly add egg, beating well. Fold through the pistachio mixture, then fold through the juice, molasses and vanilla until just combined. Spread batter into prepared pan and use a palette knife to smooth the surface. 

Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean but a little oily.

In the final 10 minutes of baking, make the syrup by placing the water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and stir until sugar dissolves. Add the remaining ingredients and when warm, remove from heat. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, drizzle with hot syrup (it looks like a lot of syrup; the hot cake will absorb it). Sprinkle with extra pistachios and set cake aside in the pan to cool to room temperature.

Remove cake from the pan and scatter with candied orange rind, if using. Serve with double cream if desired.



Candied orange rind - from Mix and Bake by Belinda Jeffery
Place the orange rind in a small bowl. Cover with boiling water and leave to soak for 30 seconds before draining. In a small saucepan combine the water and sugar and bring to the boil. Add the orange rind and lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for 10 minutes before removing the pan from the heat and leaving the rind to cool in the syrup. When cool pour the mixture through a fine sieve to drain. Remove the peel and if desired toss through some caster sugar. Place on baking paper and allow to set before storing in an airtight container. I stirred the leftover syrup into the pomegranate syrup and poured it over the cake so none went to waste.



Even though the recipe was heavily adapted from the original it had all the hallmarks of an Ottolenghi recipe - full of flavour, moist and delicious! 

See you all again tomorrow with Day 2 of Christmas week 2018.

Bye for now,

Jillian

Read more