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Archive for the ‘Dessert’ Category

Almond & Fig cake

Posted in Dessert, Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , on 19 February 2013 | 1 Comment »

We made this when figs were in season and brought it to a friends house for lunch, then forgot about it. Here’s the recipe for the next time you find some fresh figs.

Fig, orange and polenta cake – to serve 8

  • 220g butter
  • 220g golden caster sugar
  • 150g almonds
  • 150g ground almonds
  • 3 large eggs
  • 150g polenta
  • a level teaspoon of baking powder
  • finely grated zest and juice of a large orange
  • 12 green cardamom pods
  • 6 figs

FOR THE SYRUP:

  • the juice of 2 oranges
  • the juice of 2 lemons
  • 4 tbsp honey

Line the base of a loose-bottomed non-stick 20cm cake tin with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Pour boiling water over the almonds, drain with a spoon and remove the skins. Finely chop the almonds in a food processor or by hand, then add them, along with the ground almonds to the cake mix.

Break the eggs into a small bowl, beat them lightly and add to the mix. Mix the polenta and baking powder together, then fold them into the mixture together with the grated orange zest and juice. Crush the cardamom pods and remove the tiny black seeds, then grind them to a fine powder with a pestle and mortar or spice grinder. Add to the cake mix.

Cut the figs in half. Put half the cake mixture into the lined tin, add the figs, then add the rest of the cake mix and smooth the top level. Bake for 30 minutes, then turn the heat down to 160°C/Gas 3 and bake for a further 25-30 minutes or until the cake feels firm. Insert a metal skewer into the centre of the cake – if it comes out clean the cake is ready.

To make the syrup , squeeze the orange and lemon juice into a stainless steel saucepan, bring to the boil and dissolve the honey in it. Keep at the boil for 4-5 minutes or until a thick syrup has formed.

Poke holes in the top of the cake with a skewer, then spoon over the hot syrup. Leave until almost cool, then remove from the tin. Serve with some thinly sliced oranges and natural yoghurt.

(Original recipe from Nigel Slater’s Tender Volume II, Fourth Estate, London 2010.)

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Gera’s Chocolate Fudge Cake

Posted in Dessert, Food, Party Food, tagged , , , , , , on 3 January 2013 | 8 Comments »

Jono’s mum Gera often comments that we rarely put desserts on our blog. She sent us a collection of her favourite dessert and cake recipes and this is her chocolate fudge cake which was a great hit at our annual New Year’s Day lunch. The original recipe uses Australian cup measures so apologies for the odd measurements – they will work.

Gera’s Chocolate Fudge Cake

  • 180g butter
  • 250ml cocoa, sifted
  • 375ml castor sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs – separated and whites stiffly beaten
  • 375ml self-raising flour, sifted
  • 187ml plain flour, sifted
  • 1 cup of cold water
  • whipped cream
  • icing sugar

Beat the butter to a cream with the sifted cocoa. Add sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, then add vanilla.

Beat in egg yolks, one by one.

Stir in sifted flours alternately with the water.

Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites

Pour into 2 prepared 20cm cake tins.

Bake at 150-160ºC for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cake rack.

When the cake is cooled, sandwich together with whipped cream and sift icing sugar over the top.

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Spiced Baked Quinces

Posted in Dessert, Food, tagged , , , , , on 15 December 2012 | 1 Comment »

Baked Quinces

A Nigel Slater inspired dish that has a heady aroma and flavour. The star anise really pair quince well. Some quince varieties will bake to an exotic golden reddish colour and others to this more golden yellow – both are delicious. Serve with a big dollop of cream if you like.

Roast quinces – to serve 4 

  • 4 heaped tbsp sugar
  • 500ml water
  • 4 cloves
  • 2 star anise
  • 4 small quinces
  • half a lemon
  • 4 tbsp maple syrup

Bring the sugar and water to the boil in a saucepan. Add the cloves and star anise. Peel and halve the quinces, scoop out the cores and rub them with the lemon to stop them turning brown. Add the quinces to the sugar syrup and simmer for about 25 minutes or until tender (they may take longer).

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/Gas 4. Lift the quinces out of the syrup and put them in a shallow baking dish. Take 150ml of the cooking liquid, add the maple syrup and pour them over the quinces, along with the cloves and star anise. Bake for about 30 minute or until really soft. Serve with the cooking juices and some whipped cream.

(Original recipe from Nigel Slater’s Tender Volume II, Fourth Estate, 2010.)

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Roast Figs with Marsala and Muscovado

Posted in Dessert, Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , on 11 November 2012 | 2 Comments »

Delicious served with a drizzle of cold cream.

Roast figs with marsala and muscovado – to serve 4

  • 8 figs
  • sweet marsala (or you can use dry marsala but add an extra tbsp of sugar)
  • light muscovado sugar
  • cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/Gas 6.

Cut the stalks off the figs, then slice a deep cross into the top, going about half way down. Push the fruit around the middle so it opens up like a flower.

Place the figs in a baking dish (or individual pots) and sprinkle over the wine and a couple of tablespoons of sugar.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until very tender and the edges have started to caramelise. You can finish browning them under the grill if necessary.

Serve with the sticky pan juices and a drizzle of cream.

(Original recipe from Nigel Slater’s Tender: Volume II, Fourth Estate, 2010.)

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Tarta de Santiago (almond cake) with Strawberries & Sherry Vinegar

Posted in Dessert, Food, Spanish, tagged , , , , , , on 20 August 2012 | 4 Comments »

We’re really getting into desserts these days. I think we might have made two in the one month! We’re not really dessert people but lots of are friends are so we’ve been making an effort. This is a Spanish cake which is flavoured with orange and almond and is traditionally marked with the shape of a cross on the top. You don’t have to serve it with the strawberries but they work really well.

Tarta de Santiago with Strawberries & Sherry Vinegar – 8-10 slices 

  • a little butter, for greasing
  • 6 medium eggs
  • 300g caster sugar
  • 300g ground almonds
  • zest of 3 lemons
  • icing sugar, for dusting

For the strawberries: 

  • 250g strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered lengthways
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 50ml Sherry vinegar
  • vanilla ice cream, to serve

Mix the strawberries in a bowl with the sugar and vinegar, cover and leave to marinade in the fridge for about 2 hours.

Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Butter and line a 22cm springform tin with baking parchment. Use an electric whisk to mix the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Gently fold in the almonds and zest with a metal spoon.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 50 minutes – it should be golden and a skewer pushed into the centre of the cake should come away clean. Take the cake out of the oven and cover with a clean tea towel to cool it down, so it doesn’t dry out. Dust with icing sugar and serve with the strawberries and ice cream.

Wine Suggestion: Try a rich Olorosso, a dark sherry from Spain, which has a warm nuttiness to complement the almond flavour in the cake.

(Original recipe by José Pizarro in BBC Good Food Magazine, August 2012.)

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Team Oscar Strawberry and Mascarpone Tart

Posted in Dessert, tagged , , , , , on 12 August 2012 | 2 Comments »

This is easy peasy and looks so impressive.

Strawberry and Mascarpone Tart – to serve 8

  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • 250g mascarpone cheese
  • 2 drops vanilla extract
  • 250g strawberries

For the crumb base:

  • 75g butter
  • 250g almond, orange or sweet oat biscuits (or digestives will do!)

You need a rectangular tart tin with a removable bottom. We used a long thin one 12cm x 34cm.

For the crumb base, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Crush the biscuits to a coarse powder in a food processor (or bash them in a bag with a rolling pin). Mix the crumbs with the butter, then spoon into the tart tin and smooth them into into the corners and up the sides. Press firmly but don’t try not to compact them too much. Stick the base in the fridge until it has set.

To make the filling, separate the egg, put the yolk in a bowl with the sugar and beat for a few seconds to mix. Beat in the mascarpone until you have a custard-coloured cream. Stir in a few drops of vanilla extract. With a clean whisk and a clean bowl, beat the egg white until it stands stiff, then fold it into the creamed mascarpone.

Spoon the mascarpone into base. Hull the strawberries, slice them thinly and arrange them on the top. Put the tart back in the fridge but remove it about 20 minutes before serving.

Drink with: a glass of Moscato d’Asti –  lightly sparkling and deliciously sweet and fruity.

(Original recipe from Nigel Slater: the kitchen diaries, Fourth Estate, 2005.)

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Peaches Baked Two Ways

Posted in Dessert, Food, Wine, tagged , , , , , on 8 July 2012 | Leave a Comment »

The peaches at the moment are really tasty so we’re gorging on them while they’re in season. Here are two easy and delicious dessert recipes to distract ourselves from just eating the peaches fresh.

Baked peaches with an almond crust – to serve 4

  • 4 ripe peaches
  • 50g almonds – no need to skin
  • 50g golden caster sugar
  • 45g butter

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Cut the peaches in half, remove the stones and put them in a shallow baking dish cut-side up.

Blitz the almonds in a food processor until you have a coarse rubble. Add the sugar and butter and mi again briefly.

Spoon the almond mixture on top of the peaches and bake for about ¾ of an hour or until the peaches are super-soft and the topping is crispy. Pour a little double cream over to serve.

Baked peaches with maple syrup and vanilla – to serve 4

  • 4 ripe peaches
  • 4 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • juice of a lime

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Cut the peaches in half, remove the stones and put in a shallow baking dish cut-side up.

Pour the maple syrup into a bowl. Scrape the vanilla seeds from the pod and add to the maple syrup along with the lime juice. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the peaches are really soft. Baste them occasionally while they cook.

Drink with: a fragrant and slightly frothy Moscato d’Asti from the Piemonte region in Italy. Moscato is a completely under-rated wine that is fruity and light (about 5% alc.) and won’t overwhelm the dessert. We find that Moscato is quite often a much better match for fruit based desserts than traditional, much sweeter, “dessert” wines.

(Both recipes are adapted from Nigel Slater’s Tender: Volume II, Fourth Estate, 2010.)

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Rhubarb Syllabub

Posted in Dessert, Food, tagged , , , , on 26 April 2012 | Leave a Comment »

We don’t do many desserts but we do love Rhubarb which is in all the shops for spring. This is easy to make and nice and light.

Rhubarb syllabub – to serve 6

  • grated zest and juice 1 orange
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 6 stems young pink rhubarb, about 500g
  • 2 cardamom pods
  • 2 star anise

For the syllabub

  • 280ml double cream
  • zest and juice 1 large lemon
  • 3-4 tbsp Grand Marnier or dry sherry
  • 100g caster sugar

Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Warm the orange juice in a pan and dissolve the sugar in it. Cut the rhubarb into thumb-length segments and cook in the orange juice with the zest, cardamom and star anise for 8-10 minutes, then cool.

To make a syrup, lift out the rhubarb pieces and boil up the juice until it thickens.

To make the syllabub, put the cream, lemon zest and juice, alcohol and sugar into a bowl and beat for a few minutes until the mixture becomes thick and light. Remove the cardamom pods and star anise from the syrup. Put the rhubarb into individual glasses, spoon over some of the syrup, then the syllabub mixture over the top and chill for a few hours before serving.

(Original recipe from Sarah Raven’s Garden Cookbook, Bloomsbury.)

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Syllabub de Gewurztraminer

Posted in Dessert, Food, tagged , , , , , , on 15 December 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Yes … Jono and jules do make desserts … but just not very often. So in a weak moment last weekend we succumbed to whipping up, literally, some syllabub as we had some Gewürztraminer, an off-dry, aromatic, lychee and rose smelling spicy wine lying around. The good think about syllabubs are their lightness and ability to be made a little beforehand so they’re easy to pull out at the end of a meal with very little effort apart from dressing the top with some marinated lemon peel to garnish. Serve with some crunchy biscuits.

White Wine Syllabub – to serve 6

  • finely grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon
  • 2 tbsp brandy
  • 50g caster or icing sugar
  • 150ml medium-dry, spicy white wine – Gewurtz works well
  • 300ml double cream

Mix the zest and lemon juice, brandy, sugar and white wine together. Cover and chill overnight – or at least for 1 hour.

Strain the wine mixture and throw away the lemon zest. Put the cream in a bowl and whisk, slowly adding the wine mixture, until it loosely holds its shape and leaves a ribbon on the surface when you trail the whisk along it. Don’t whisk too long or it will curdle!

Spoon into tall glasses and leave somewhere cool until ready to serve. Decorate with a twist of lemon peel.

(Original recipe from Rick Stein’s Spanish Christmas, BBC2, 2011.)

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Sloe Gin Rhubarb (yum!)

Posted in Brunch, Dessert, Food, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on 21 July 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Really interesting flavours that celebrate each component: sloes, gin and rhubarb. Great served chilled with plain yogurt or muesli for your morning breakfast – the alcohol burns off in the oven. If you haven’t got any sloe gin we’re definitely not suggesting you go looking for some just for this recipe. On the other hand if  you happen to have some lying around, then it’s definitely worth trying.

Nigel Slater’s Sloe Rhubarb – to serve 4

  • 750g rhubarb
  • 100g sugar
  • 120ml sloe gin
  • 2 tbsp water
Heat the oven at 160°C/Gas 3. Cut the rhubarb into short sticks. Put it into a glass, stainless steal or china dish (not aluminium, as it will taint the rhubarb).

Stir the sugar, sloe gin and water together and pour over the rhubarb. Bake for 40 minutes to an hour – if the rhubarb is tough it will take the full hour to soften. Keep and eye on it and baste now and then.

When the rhubarb is tender, remove it from the oven and leave to cool. Can be served warm but we liked it chilled.

(Original recipe from Tender – Volume 2 by Nigel Slater)

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Jono and Jules made a dessert!

Posted in Dessert, Food, tagged , , , on 26 June 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute TrifleWe are not known for making desserts … as we never really eat them. Last night we entertained 8 of our friends who all want a mention on our blog (Aisling, Niall, Thaiba, Simon, Nicola, Dave, Tim & Michael). We decided to do something easy to pull out of the fridge when ready. We’d seen this recipe earlier in Jamie’s 30 minute meals and because we had some Limoncello we gave it a go. Result: simple preparation and can be made earlier in the day. It was light and had just the right amount of alcohol tang to be refreshing at the end of the meal, and as all the plates were empty, well enjoyed.

Limoncello Trifle (to serve 6, we made 2)

  • 3 oranges
  • 75ml Limoncello
  • 100g sponge fingers
  • 250g marscapone
  • 2 heaped tablespoons icing sugar
  • 100ml semi-skimmed milk
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 1 punnet of seasonal fruit, we used raspberries
  • bar of good quality dark chocolate

In a good sized serving dish (it will need to fit a single layer of your sponge fingers) squeeze the juice from the oranges. Stir in the Limoncello and taste to check sweetness and alcohol; adjust if necessary. Layer the sponge fingers in the serving dish – they will absorb all the juice.

Put the marscapone and icing sugar into a separate bowl with the milk. Zest the lemon and add to the marscapone and squeeze in the juice of half the lemon. Add the vanilla extract and whisk well. Spread this mixture over the sponge fingers, top with the berries and shave chocolate over the top. Refrigerate until you are ready to eat.

We used Carlo Pellegrino Limoncello from Sicily as it has a good balance of freshness and acidity making it not too sweet and sickly. Also good served from ice cold from the freezer.

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