Citrus fluffy mini cakes

Makes 7 small muffin size cakes

Juice, pulp and seeds of 1 passionfruit
Juice of 1 lemon
(Citrus liquid and fruit adds up to about 1/2 a cup)
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup of sour cream OR light cream cheese
60g sugar
2 tbsp of agave nectar
1 tbsp of vanilla yoghurt
Optional - Seeds of 1 vanilla pod
100g flour + 25g almond meal (flour mixture)
1 XL egg

Preheat fan forced oven to 180 deg.

Mix juice and agave nectar together.
Whisk sour cream/cream cheese and yoghurt and sugar till nice and airy.
Separately whisk egg till creamy and pale and airy.
Mix vanilla seeds into cream mixture.
Drizzle 1/3 juice around the sides of the mixture.
Add 1/3 flour and 1/3 egg mixture. Fold to just combine. Dont overwork it.
Repeat until combined all flour and egg.
Spoon into muffin tin.
Sprinkle lemon zest onto top of mixture of each cake.
Reduce oven temperature to 170 deg.
Bake for 16 minutes.

Enjoy.

Bon Appetite!

Petite Dark Chocolate Bites

I made this for my other half's parents 40th wedding anniversary canape party of 40 people. After cutting out all the rounded sides (which we kept for family enjoyment), there was enough perfect square pieces to go round the guest twice.

(enough for 30cm round cake tin and 20cm round cake tin)
380g dark chocolate buttons
8 eggs, yolks and whites separated
2 egg whites
1 cup almond meal (65g)
200g butter
160g castor sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp orange oil
20g cocoa powder. ( 1 tablespoon)

Preheat oven to 160C.

Melt chocolate and 50g butter in bain marie.
Separately, cream the butter and sugar in mixing bowl until fluffy, then whisk in egg yolk one by one till mixture turn almost creamy white.
Fold in melted chocolate, then almond meal, orange oil and salt.
In another clean separate mixing bowl, whisk all egg whites till become almost stiff peaks.
Progressively fold whites into rest of mixture.
Pour into large cake tray (about 2 cm high).
Bake for 30 minutes.
Pour balance into small tray only just before putting into oven to bake, giving it a stir to re-create air, before pouring.  Bake for 20 minutes.
Cool for at least 1 hour before serving. Best served next day!
Sprinkle with cocoa powder before cutting to serve.
Cut into petite square pieces of about 2cm x 2cm and arrange on flat serving plate.


Bon Appetite!

Chocolate hazelnut or almond cupcakes

Makes 12 very light and crumbly cupcakes.

180g dark chocolate buttons ( I used Callebaut)
80g sugar
120g butter
2 XL eggs
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 cup milk (room temperature, luke warm)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cream of tartar
50g self raising cake flour (almost half a cup)
50g hazelnut meal or almond meal (half a cup)
2 tsp cornflour (10g)
A pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 160 deg fan force
Line baking tray of 12 with baking paper cups.

Melt chocolate and chopped butter over bain marie.
Mix salt, corn flour, SR flour, baking powder, cocoa and cinnamon powder together (dry content).
Separate egg yolks from white.
Whisk egg whites until slight bubbly, then add cream of tartar. Continue whisking till bubbles become slightly denser, then add 1/2 of the sugar slowly. Whisk till form soft peaks. Set aside.
Separately, whisk egg yolks and slowly add remaining 3 sugar while continuing to beat the yolk, until creamy and almost white.
Fold egg yolks into melted chocolate/butter in 3 batches. Do same with almond or hazelnut meal and milk.
Sift remaining dry content into wet content slowly in 3 batches. Do not overfold/stir to prevent gluten developing (from the flour).
Spoon mixture into baking tray and put into preheated oven.
Bake for 15-16 minutes, and remove from oven, let it cool in tray for about 10 minutes then, place on wire rack.
Optional: Slight press 1 chocolate button on top of each cooked muffin after about 10 minutes, for decoration. 


Bon Appetite!

Jamie Oliver's Portuguese Tarts

These are quite good I have to say.
Makes 6
Plain flour, for dusting
1 x 375g pack of prerolled puff pastry , or 2 piece Pampas Puff pastry
Ground cinnamon
125g (4½oz) créme fraîche or double cream
1tsp vanilla paste or vanilla extract
5tbsp golden caster sugar
1 egg
1 orange

Turn the oven on to 200C/ gas 6.

Pastry
Dust a surface with flour.
Unroll the pastry, then cut it in half so you have two 20cm x 20cm (8in x 8in) squares. For pampas, just leave the 2 pieces as it is.
Sprinkle over a few pinches of ground cinnamon.
Roll the pastry into a Swiss-roll shape and cut into 6 rounds for the roll pasty, or 3 rounds for each Pampas slice.
Put these into 6 of the holes in a muffin tin.
Use your thumbs to mould the pastry into the holes, so the bottom is flat and the pastry comes up to the top.
Put on the top shelf of the oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Filling
Spoon the créme fraîche or double cream into a small bowl.
Add the egg, vanilla paste or extract, 1tbsp golden caster sugar and the zest of 1 orange. Mix well.

Take the muffin tin out of the oven, and use a teaspoon to press the puffed-up pastry back to the sides and make room for the filling.

Spoon the créme fraîche mixture into the tart cases, and return to the top shelf of the oven. Set the timer for 8 minutes.

Put a small saucepan on a high heat. Squeeze in the juice from the zested orange and add 4tbsp golden caster sugar. Stir and keep a good eye on it, but remember caramel can burn badly so don't touch or taste.

Pour some caramel over each tart (they'll still be wobbly). Put aside to set.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1312958/Jamie-Olivers-30-minute-meals-Piri-Piri-chicken-rocket-salad-dressed-potatoes-quick-Portuguese-tarts.html#ixzz1ZpCKn7qB


Bon Appetite!

Little chocolate and almond cakes

I was craving for a bit of chocolate cake today and whipped this up from scratch. Very happy with it. Light, super moist, crumbly, yummy.

Makes 6 - cupcake size.
120g dark chocolate buttons (I used Callebaut)
65g almond meal
120ml of milk (1/2 cup)
60g castor sugar
60g butter - chopped
1 XL egg
2 tbsp self raising flour
1 tsp cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder
Optional: Rasberry or blueberry for decorating.

Preheat oven to 170 deg.
Line muffin tray with baking paper cups.

Melt butter and chocolate on bain marie.
Lightly whisk in 3/4 of the sugar, and all the cinnamon, salt, cocoa powder.

Fold in almond meal and milk progressively in 3 batches.

Fold in SR flour, baking powder.
Separately, whisk egg till very pale yellow and creamy, to aerate the egg as much as possible, slowly adding in remaining sugar after egg turned creamy as you continue whisking.
Fold egg into cake mixture in 2 batches, until well incorporated.
Pour into baking paper cups in muffin tray.
Bake 15 minutes for a slightly goey middle, or 17 minutes for a very moist cake with crispy top.
Rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Bon Appetite!

Lemon & Lime Curd Tart

This is a Masterchef website recipe, tested with a 41/2 star rating. I like it because of its simple tart shell recipe and the lemon curd recipe seems right too. Have yet to test it for myself though.

Canola cooking spray oil

¾ cup desiccated coconut
¼ cup caster sugar
1 egg white
100g butter
½ cup lemon juice
½ cup caster sugar
1 egg
3 egg yolks
Coulis

1 punnet raspberries
2 tablespoons caster sugar

Sugar Raspeberries

½ cup raspberries
1 egg white
2 tablespoons caster sugar

 

1. Preheat oven to 150'C. Grease four 7cm non-stick loose base fluted tart tins.

2. Combine coconut, sugar and egg white in a bowl and mix to combine.

3. Press mixture into prepared tins and bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Remove and cool for 10 minutes.

4. Place butter and juice into a medium sauce pan over a low heat and gently mix until butter has melted.

5. Whisk together sugar, egg and egg yolks in a jug and gradually whisk into butter mixture. Stir continuously over a low heat for 4-5 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. Divide mixture among cooked tart cases and refrigerate to cool.

6. For coulis, puree raspberries and sugar in the chopper attachment of a stick blender until smooth.

7. Brush raspberries with egg white and sprinkle with caster sugar.

8. Dress tarts with sugared raspberries and serve with raspberry coulis.

Bon Appetite!

Lemon Curd, Buffalo Mozarella and Toasted Sesame Seeds Tart

If have ready made frozen puff pastry and lemon curd:
- Prep and cooking time: 30 minutes
If have ready made frozen puff pastry but making lemon curd from scratch:
- Prep and cooking time: 1 hour.

Serves 6
2 pieces ready made puff pastry ( I used Pampas).
120g fresh/buffalo mozarella - sliced thin (about 5 mm thick)
About 20g toasted sesame (small handful)
+ Lemon Curd ingredients
Juice of 2 Myer lemons (about 100ml)
90g butter - diced
80g sugar
3 L eggs (or 2 yolks plus 1 XL egg).

Preheat oven 180 deg.

1. Melt butter and sugar on medium heat on a small pot, add lemon juice, stir.
2. Remove pot from heat (for about 1 minute). Otherwise, eggs will scramble a bit as it hits super hot liquid.
3. Meanwhile keep heat on, place trivet. (Trivet makes it easier, less likely for egg to scramble. If you dont have a trivet, never mind, just stir more continuosly!)
4. Place pot on trivet and start adding egg one by one, continuosly stirring and whisking until egg is well combined into the mixture.
5. Continue stirring and whisking until thickens to curd consistency (this should take about 30-40 minutes). It is okay to take your eyes off the pot and stop whisking now and then to attend to other tasks, but do not leave unstirred/unwhisked for more than 1 minute at a time.  Set aside when cooked.
6. While lemon curd is cooking, take pastry out of freezer to thaw. Usually takes about 10-15 minutes in winter, or 5 minutes in summer. Once pastry becomes soft and pliable it is ready. Arrange pastry to fully cover tart tin (25cm).
7. Poke holes evenly on pastry and blind bake. Follow instructions on pastry pack for blind baking. (10 minutes is about enough).
8. When baked pastry is cooled, spread lemon curd evenly onto pastry.
9. Arranged the mozarella pieces, on top of the lemon curd.
10. Sprinkle toasted sesame seed all over mozarella cheese.
11. Bake in oven for 5-7 minutes until cheese has melted.
12. Remove from oven, sprinkle pinchful of cinnamon powder all over tart.

Serve warm.

Note: Fresh Vanilla beans or cinnamon powder can be added onto lemon curd for a more fragrant curd.

Bon Appetite!