Baked cinnamon ricotta drizzled with honey and berries

This was super easy to make and very tasty. Lovely little morning or afternoon tea dish. The ricotta would also be fabulous for breakfast served on toast. I made half the recipe and I easily got four servings out of it. I have noticed this a lot lately, that the suggested serving sizes are massive. Most of the time I can halve a recipe and still get plenty of food out of it. If it wasn't that bit more difficult I would start quartering recipes but it takes that bit extra work and sometimes when I have taken the time to work it out the end result isn't that great. Some recipes just aren't meant to be made in such small quantities. This one probably wouldn't have been too bad. I find that recipes with eggs are the hardest. 

I would recommend making this one. I really enjoyed it and will make it again.

Strawberry & Basil Ice Cream

Yes! You read that right strawberry & basil ice cream. It is strawberries this month for the Bake Club competition over on Taste. If you are an Aussie pop on over and have a look. With a copy of The Commonsense Cookery Book - The Kitchen classic up for grabs it is worth throwing something together from the collection. 

This is also a delicious mag recipe and I remember seeing it in the magazine at the time and being intrigued by the combination. It has been one of those recipes that pops up when searching for other recipes. I decided that it was finally time to give it a whirl for the competition. 

I wish that I had tried on every other occasion I have looked at the recipe as it is incredible. I really wasn't that sure about the combination but it just seems to go together perfectly. I only had blood oranges so the colour is a little deeper. It is a lower fat content ice cream so it does harden up quite a bit and even when softened I found it doesn't scoop that easily. It does have just the right sweetness, tang and herby flavours. I would definitely make this again. 

Happy 2nd Birthday - Coconut Tres Leches Cake

Happy 2nd birthday to my little blog! I forgot the first birthday last year but I was determined not to forget this year. I am so pleased that I started up blogging. I know that did blog as much last year as I did in my first but I am hoping to do more this year. I am trying to keep on top of my diet this year. I did manage to lose 15 kg last year which I was so very pleased with but I still have plenty more weight to lose. I do refuse, however, to starve and/or seriously deprive myself. I know myself too well and know that if I do those things that I just rebel. So will I hope to have more healthy and lighter recipes on here this year there is still be some desserts and indulgent and luxurious meals too. 

For a birthday you just have to have a lovely dessert and this one is a wonderful one. I had made it before about 3 or 4 years ago and just love it. I had a bbq with friends on the weekend and it was requested that I bring a dessert. Actually I am always requested to bring a dessert, lol. Not that I mind at all, I so love to make desserts. This one was a huge hit, everyone just raved about it and pretty much every one had seconds. The first time I made it I topped it with sliced mango and shaved fresh coconut. I think it was better with the strawberries, blueberries & kiwi fruit.

Coconut Tres Leches Cake

Ingredients

6 eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup plain flour
400 g can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups cream
Fruit to top (eg berries, kiwi fruit, mango, passionfruit)
Shaved coconut (optional)

Method

Heat oven to 160 C (140 C fan-forced).

Grease 32 cm x 22 baking dish.

Beat yolks and sugar on high speed until pale yellow and fluffy.

Whip egg whites to peaks. With rubber spatula, stir about 1/3 of egg whites into yolks and then gently fold in remaining whites.

Sift flour over egg mixture and using a rubber spatula to gently fold in until there are no more white flour streaks being careful not to over mix.

Bake until puffed and golden and the edges pull away from the sides of the pan, 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and place pan on a wire cooling rack. With a toothpick, poke holes all over the cake. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.

In a jug combine the milks and vanilla and then pour mixture evenly over cake. Continue to cool cake for another 45 more minutes and then cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Turn cake out onto a serving plate, you may need to use a spatula to lift around the edges and then tap on the bottom of the pan, it will eventually come out. (I had the centre of the cake stick but I just lifted it out and stuck it back in place...shhh)

Whip cream and cover cake with it then top with desired fruit and coconut, if using.

November 2011 - Happy Birthday Delicious magazine

Happy birthday to delicious. magazine. Imagine 10 years old now. It is almost hard to believe that it has been going for that long however as I sit here and look over at the shelf in my bookshelf full of magazine is a clear indication that it is true. It is a truly amazing collection of recipes and articles on a wonderful wide range of cuisines and topics. 

What else but a fabulous dessert could be made from this issue? There was some lovely looking savoury recipes like Bill Granger's Coriander & Maple Syrup Lamb Racks, Rick Stein's BBQ butterflied lamb with olive oil chips and tomato, eschalot & basil salad or John Wilson's Chicken Kiev Burgers. While all of these sounded very good, especially Bill's recipe. I really wanted to make a sweet recipe. 

Something else that was necessary, whatever recipe I made it had to be one of Valli Little's recipes. So much of what I have made out of delicious. magazine has come from Valli Little. Almost all of her recipes have been a success for me. I can't think of any off the top of my head that I would call a failure only things that I would tweak for my own tastes. It just seemed right that whatever I made from this birthday issue would be something of Valli's. 

Having said that, I did for a very short amount of time consider making Christopher The's amazing Mango Meringue Birthday Cake on the front cover. I really would love to make it one day. The recipe is long and involved and I would need to buy another two 20cm round springform pans, although I suppose I could halve the recipe. It is certainly not something that you can just whip up in a few hours. One day I will make it, although I have been saying that about Adriano Zumbo's V8 cake for two years now too. 

I had my grandparents and great-uncle & his partner coming up for dinner at slightly short notice and needed a dessert for the meal. I decided it was the perfect opportunity to make something from this issue. I decided on Valli's Strawberry & Rhubarb Galette. It was very easy and quite quick to make but it gave a stunning result. Everyone was very impressed with it. My grandmother particularly loved the pastry. I only made one change from the recipe  and that was to use yoghurt in the pastry instead of sour cream. The yoghurt reduces the richness of the pastry a bit. The rose cream that was served with it was very good too, although I reduced the amount of rose water worried that it would be overpowering but I really shouldn't have full strength would have been better I think. It was such a wonderful dessert with really good flavour. I would definitely make this one again. 

Lemon Souffle Cakes

I made these ages ago. The lemony flavour was great but the batter was difficult to work with. It was really runny and produced a really soft "pancake". I suppose that was the way it was supposed to be given the name soufflé cake. However for me all that meant was that they were really hard to flip while cooking. I think I would prefer to just add some lemon zest and juice to my mum's pancake recipe or to Bill's ricotta hotcake recipe.  

Bill Granger's Lemon Soufflé Cakes

Ingredients :

• 3/4 c buttermilk
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 25g unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 c plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 2 egg whites

Method:

• Combine buttermilk, egg yolks, lemon juice, zest and vanilla essence then add melted butter and mix well.
• Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Make a well in the centre and gradually whisk in the wet ingredients until they are just combined.
• Whip the egg whites to soft peaks then fold them into the buttermilk mixture using a large metal spoon.
• Melt a small amount of butter in a fry pan over a medium heat. Add a couple spoons full of batter and cook until golden brown on the bottom, flip the cake over and cook until golden brown on both sides. Keep warm while cooking the rest. 
• Serve with halved strawberries tossed in a little honey.

Strawberry Mousse Cake

There was a quickly organised night at a friend's place last night. We had a good friend coming home for the weekend for a quick visit and decided to get together last night for dinner. I was charged with bringing dessert. I wanted to try something a bit different. I wanted to make something fruity. I considered making something from Bill's Sydney Food but none of the desserts really grabbed me. Nothing that would really suit adults as well as young children anyway. I had seen a couple of recipes for a strawberry mousse cake but none of them were exactly what I wanted so I decided to get a little bit creative. Thankfully, it all worked out. and everyone really enjoyed it. It all held up and and tasted great. Lovely and fresh and light. I will definitely be making this one again. 

First I made a genoise sponge using a recipe from The Australian Women's Weekly Cook. It was a really easy sponge to make. It collapsed a bit on me towards the end of the cooking time, so would reduce that slightly next time. Although I did put the mixture into a 23 cm springform instead of a 20 cm one as I couldn't find my 20 cm one.  Plus that was the size I wanted for my final product.

Genoise Sponge 

• 4 eggs 
• 110g (1/2 c) caster sugar 
• 100 g (2/3 c) plain flour, double sifted
• 60 g butter, melted and cooled 

Method: 

• Pre-heat oven to 160 C (fan-forced).
• Put eggs & sugar in a large bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and beat continuously using electric beaters until thick & creamy, about 10 minutes. 
• Remove bowl from the heat and continue beating until the mixture reaches room temperature.
• Sift over half the flour and fold in, add remaining flour and fold though. 
• Quickly fold in the butter. 
• Pour mix into pan and bake for 15 - 20 minutes. 
• Turn out immediately. 
• Once cool refrigerate until required. 

Strawberry Mousse

• 500g strawberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 100 g caster sugar
• 6 leaves gelatine (gold strength), softened in cold water (I think this would be about 4 or 5 tsp of gelatine) 
• 250ml (1 cup) Greek yoghurt
• 250 ml (1 cup) double cream

Method 

• Place the strawberries and lemon juice in a food processor and process until smooth. 
• Heat the purée and sugar in a saucepan over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat. 
• Squeeze water from the soaked gelatine and add to the strawberry mixture. Stir well until dissolved, then cool.
• When cool whisk in the yoghurt and cream, chill in the fridge until slightly thickened. 

To assemble: 

•  Line the base of the clean springform tin with glad wrap. 
• Carefully slice sponge cake in half and place one half in the cake tin. 
• Spoon over half of the strawberry mousse (a ladle worked really well).
• Top with the other half of the sponge cake and then the remaining mousse. 
• Refrigerate overnight or until set. 
• To unmould, run a knife under hot water, dry completely and run around the inside of the tin then quickly remove the outer ring of the tin and slide onto a serving tray. 
• Top with a punnet of sliced strawberries combined with the pulp of one passionfruit and 1 tsp of caster sugar. (The sugar is optional, if your strawberries are sweet enough don't worry about it) 
• Refrigerate until serving. 

Linked to:

Re-inventing the Lamginton - the Rolled Laminglova

You may remember last year that I participated in the delightful Mr P's Re-invent the Lamington challenge. It was so much fun and I delighted in making jelly cakes although I would have loved to win the Welsh dragon cookie cutter. There were some amazing things done by other participants in the challenge. There were many that I would love to make but I just haven't gotten around to it. I was super excited to see that Mr P is holding his Re-invent the Lamington challenge again this year and offering another excellent prize. I really wanted to participate again this year. 

I knew, after the creativity of some of last year's entries that I would really have to step it up a notch in the creativity stakes. While the shaped jelly cakes were good they were still a bit traditional. My first thought, since it has finally started to heat up here, was to do ice cream lamingtons. Since I have the ice cream attachment for my KitchenAid now I thought that it would be perfect to use that. However looking at last year's entrants in the challenge there was already an ice cream lamington. Although that one was different to what I had been thinking of making I decided to make something else. 

Lamingtons are considered quintessentially Australian so I sat down and had a bit of a think about what else is considered quintessentially Australian and came up with the pavlova. I love pavlova, and they are so easy to make. I considered just making mini pavlovas and stacking them on top of a piece of sponge cake with some cream and coating with chocolate icing and coconut as normal. I decided not to go that way for a couple of reasons, the first being that I wasn't sure how the pavlova would stand up to being rolled in chocolate icing and coconut. I thought it may start to disintegrate. The other, more important, reason was that I thought that the whole thing would just be unbearably sweet. Sweet to the point of not being able to eat it and what would be the point of that. 

I have always wanted to try making a rolled pavlova. A pavlova mixture baked in a swiss roll tin and then rolled up with cream and and fruit. I decided that this would be a much better option with some whipped ganache piped on top and then sprinkled with toasted flaked coconut it would become a Rolled Laminglova. First I made the ganache. 

Whipped Ganache

• 100g good-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped     
• 20g unsalted butter 
• 1/3 cup  thickened cream

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and place over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and combined. 
2. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before placing in the fridge to chill completely. 
3. Once chilled and thickened, use electric hand beaters to beat until thick and creamy.

I then made the pavlova:

Rolled pavlova

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup (200g) caster sugar
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1/2 cup thickened cream
• 1 tbsp icing sugar mixture
• 2 passionfruit 
• 1 punnet strawberries, hulled & sliced
• Caster sugar, extra, to dust 
• Toasted flaked coconut 

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 25x30cm Swiss roll pan with baking paper, allowing the sides to overhang.
2. Whisk the eggwhites in a clean, dry bowl until firm peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating well between each addition. Continue whisking until sugar completely dissolves. Add the cornflour and vinegar and gently fold with a metal spoon until just combined. Spoon into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until meringue just starts to brown.
3. Place a clean tea towel on a clean work surface. Top with a large sheet of baking paper. Dust lightly with caster sugar. Turn the pavlova, top-side down, onto the dusted baking paper. Set aside for 20 minutes to cool.
4. Meanwhile, whisk the cream until soft peaks form. Add the icing sugar and passionfruit then gently fold to combine. Spread the passionfruit cream evenly over the pavlova and top with half the sliced strawberries in rows about 2 cm apart. Starting at the short edge carefully roll pavlova, using the paper and tea towel as a guide, to enclose filling. Keep pavlova wrapped in baking paper and tea towel. Transfer to a tray and place in the fridge for 1 hour to chill. 
5. Remove from fridge, unwrap and place on serving plate. 
6. Place whipped ganache in a piping bag with a large star tip and pipe onto the top of the pavlova in whatever design you prefer. Sprinkle with toasted coconut.
7. Serve with remaining sliced strawberries. 

February 2008 - Strawberry Muffins

There were two recipes that I have had marked to try since I bought issue #68 the first is Belinda Jeffery's Star Anise Chicken with Gingered Red Cabbage. I had intended all along to make it to post here. However when I was looking red cabbage was really expensive. I have, however found half a tiny head that was reasonably priced so I will probably make it this weekend. I may even post it as an extra, so stay tuned.

The other recipe that I have had marked to make were some lush looking Strawberry Muffins that are part of a feature by Valli Little on healthy back to school lunch boxes. There are a number of other recipes in there that I may try at some point too as I am always looking for something nice for lunch. The Spicy Felafel Wraps sound great although I am very partial to Simon Bryant's Felafel with Yoghurt sauce that he made on The Cook and The Chef show on the ABC here in Oz. The Lamb Pasties definite sound like something to try and have in the freezer for when I can't be bothered doing anything but turn the oven on. The Potato Frittata sounds great but I am reluctant to use 8 eggs in anything that doesn't involve sugar.

In the end the decision to make the Strawberry Muffins wasn't hard as my local IGA supermarket had strawberries on a very good special so I picked up a punnet or 6. I used some of them to make a Glazed Strawberry Tart on the weekend from my Gramma's recipe. It was beautiful.

That took almost 4 punnets but I still had another 2 and a bit to use up. I had some for breakfast with cereal but I decided that I would take one of the extra punnets and make the muffins. They are soft and have a subtle strawberry flavour with the chunks of berry disintegrating slightly. They have the right amount of sweetness. Perhaps the only complaint is that there is a bit much butter. I think I would reduce it to 60 g next time. Although with the giant mint slice, the pie and now muffins I certainly will not be making them again any time soon. I have put most of the muffins in the freezer so that there is something sweet when a craving hits.

Strawberry Muffins

Makes 12 (I actually got 20)

Ingredients

• 400g plain flour, sifted
• 165g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 punnet strawberries, chopped
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 300ml buttermilk
• 80g unsalted butter, melted, cooled

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 190 C (fan-forced).
  
• Line muffin trays with papers.
  
• Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and stir well.
  
• Add strawberries and stir to coat in the flour.
  
• Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl. (I used my 500ml measuring jug)
• Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until only just combined.
  
• Fill papers 2/3 to 3/4 full.
  
• Bake 18 - 20 minutes or until risen and slightly golden.
  

January 2006 - Lamb Cutlets with Bean, Strawberry and Feta Salad

After an unsuccessful choice last time I was hoping that this time around would be better. Again there were large amounts of seafood recipes. There are also a lot of recipes for using up left over Christmas ham and turkey. Since I did not host anyone for Christmas this year I have no left over ham or turkey. I do have a turkey breast roll in the freezer but I do not want to cook that right now.

There was one recipe in particular that caught my eye. It is another Valli Little recipe, I never realised before how many recipes of hers are in delicious. and how wonderful most of them look. I promise though there are some recipes by different chefs coming up. In this month's magazine there is a full page picture of Lamb Cutlets with Bean, Strawberry and Feta Salad. It instantly caught my eye with the different colours and I just knew that the flavours would be wonderful. I will admit that I am not normally a fan of green beans as a vegetable. I always remember them being soggy, bland and overcooked. However this salad looked too good to let my apathy toward one of the ingredients stop me. I am so glad that I made this. The beans that I purchased were not as young and thin as I would have liked but they were okay. The sweetness of the strawberries combined beautifully with the sweetness of the lamb. All the sweet was cut by the salty and creamy feta. I used the raspberry vinegar in the dressing, however mine is very sweet so I think that I could have left the sugar out but it wasn't too bad. It was a really easy dish to pull together and easy to make after work for a week night meal.

Lamb Cutlets with Bean, Strawberry and Feta Salad

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 12 french-trimmed lamb cutlets (I didn't get french-trimmed, I like the extra meat)
  
• 1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil
• 2 lemons, very thinly sliced
• 1 bunch mint, leaves picked
• 2 tbs raspberry or red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbs Dijon mustard
• 500g French or thin green beans, blanched
• 400g small strawberries, sliced
• 400g feta, crumbled

Method

1. 
   Place lamb in a shallow dish and drizzle with 100ml oil. Add the lemon slices, half the mint, and season. Toss to coat, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
   
2. 
   Whisk remaining oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Toss together beans, berries, feta and remaining mint.
   
3. Heat a barbecue or chargrill to high and cook lamb, in batches if necessary, 2-3 minutes each side. Cook lemon slices for 1 minute. Toss salad with dressing and serve with lamb and lemon.

January 2005 - Coconut Cream Tartlets with Glazed Strawberries

There are times when a dessert is just required and I had decided that at least one of my recipes this month, in fact each month, would have to be a dessert. I do not want to over do it with the desserts as it would be easy to just look through the magazines and pick out the best looking dessert in each. However that wouldn't be all that adventurous and would also result in plenty of extra kilos applied to my already generous frame. So once a month it will have to be, unless something really special comes up...ha ha.

It was quite easy to choose a dessert in this issue, as it would be in most of the December/January issues as there are a lot of lovely Christmas dessert recipes. The problem with most dessert recipes is that they make so much and often it is more difficult to halve or quarter a dessert recipe as frequently they contain an odd number of eggs. I have in the past procured some small eggs which allows me to use one regular egg and one small one in half of a recipe containing 3 eggs but sometimes I just cannot be bothered messing around with it. I ended up choosing Coconut Cream Tartlets with Glazed Strawberries. The picture in the magazine looked great, it was easy to make a smaller quantity and left over ingredients can be used in other things. Unfortunately, while it was very easy to make it wasn't all that good. I didn't have strawberries so substituted blueberries. Perhaps their flavour is a bit to subtle for this. The worst problem was the lemon zest in the filling. It over powered everything. I could not distinguish the coconut cream or the blueberries. All there was a creamy lemon and I didn't even put in as much as the recipe said to. If I were to try this again I think that I would omit the lemon altogether. Lime might be a better option but to be honest I think the mascarpone, coconut cream and berries would be enough flavours. I hope that next month's dessert is more successful.

Coconut cream tartlets with glazed strawberries

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 250g mascarpone cheese
• 50ml coconut cream
• 2 tsp grated lemon rind
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
• 350g small strawberries
• 8 pre-cooked 8cm sweet tart shells (mine were smaller)
  

Method

1. Whisk together the mascarpone, coconut cream, lemon rind and 30g sugar. Refrigerate until needed.
   
2. Place remaining sugar in a saucepan with 1/2 cup (125ml) water and vanilla pod and seeds. Bring to the boil, stirring, then simmer over low heat for 5 minutes until reduced by half. Allow to cool completely, then pour over strawberries.
   
3. To serve, fill the tart shells with the coconut cream mixture, top with a few glazed strawberries and drizzle with a little of the syrup.